A New Ulm man is accused of being paid for more than 300 hours of in-home support he claimed to provide to a person with a developmental disability while he was working other jobs, according to criminal complaints filed in Brown County.
Jessica Confer Dettmer, who was 43 at the time of the alleged offenses in September 2024, is charged in Brown County District Court with aiding and abetting felony theft, medical assistance fraud and forgery. The complaint says she was the responsible party who signed the caregiver’s timesheets. Jose Luis Trevino Jr., who was 22 at the time of the alleged offenses, is charged in a separate complaint with felony theft, medical assistance fraud and forgery. Both are from New Ulm. A judge issued the complaints Oct. 26. The theft and medical assistance fraud counts each carry a maximum of 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine, and the forgery count carries a maximum of 3 years and/or a $5,000 fine. Dettmer was issued a summons.
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According to the complaints, a Brown County fraud investigator received a referral on Nov. 25, 2025, about Individualized Home Support services provided to a person with a developmental disability. Trevino’s timesheets showed him providing care 35 hours a week, Monday through Friday, consistently from around 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Another provider who works in the home told the investigator they had not realized Trevino was a paid caregiver and that he usually was not around.
The investigator reviewed Trevino’s timesheets from July 28, 2025, on and found he worked afternoons at Kwik Trip during hours he claimed to be providing care, until he moved to an overnight shift at the end of November 2025, the complaints say. The investigator estimated 149 overlapping hours, billed for $3,091.75. Trevino also worked for Hansen Seamless Gutters from Sept. 30, 2024, through Dec. 15, 2024, overlapping an estimated 164.75 hours billed for $3,418.63.
In all, Trevino was paid $6,510.38 for care claimed while he was working other jobs, according to the complaints. He signed 48 timesheets submitted from 2024 to 2026, each carrying a warning that giving false information for Medical Assistance billing is a federal crime. Dettmer signed each one as the responsible party.
Trevino did not deny working other jobs while claiming to provide care, the complaints say. Dettmer confirmed to the investigator that she signed the timesheets. She apologized several times and said she should have checked the hours before signing them. She said she had set a schedule for Trevino but was too busy to make sure he kept to it, according to her complaint, which says she would have known he was not providing the care as claimed.
