Shakopee man acquitted of $412K swindle from St. Kate's

A jury acquitted a Shakopee man of all charges after he was accused of swindling more than $400,000 from St. Catherine University.

Juan Ramon Bruce, 57, had been in the Ramsey County jail since the case was filed on May 13 until Monday, when jurors found him not guilty on all six counts of theft by swindle.

He was initially charged with helping his former girlfriend, Laura Jean Fero, 55, steal money from the private university from 2020 until last summer.

"He had done the work he was hired to do," Bruce's defense attorney Debra Hilstrom told the Star Tribune on Tuesday. "There was no crime committed here. And if there was one here, he didn't commit it."

Hilstrom said Bruce "was very emotional, and he's very thankful" after hearing the Ramsey County District Court verdicts.

Fero was the nursing school's dean from 2019 until she resigned last year. According to the complaint, she had met Bruce on Elitesingles.com and started a romantic relationship. Despite the school's conflict-of-interest policy, she helped him get contracted with the university under the name of a marketing and cost analysis company the prosecutors alleged was fabricated.

Using Bruce's company, Fero allegedly began heavily editing his reports and contracts with the university until she resigned in August 2023. When the school asked Bruce to send them reports of his work in October 2023, it differed significantly from the initial reports he sent to Fero.

The university began its internal investigation and on November 30, contacted the Saint Paul Police Department regarding findings that around $412,000 had been swindled from the university.

Prosecutors also allege that Fero used a company-provided card to pay for expensive flights between June 2021 and August 2023 for both of them on romantic getaways to Miami, Cancun, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Orlando.

Fero is charged with counts identical to Bruce's but is currently living in Florida after posting bail. She is due back in court on August 13.

Related: Charges detail terrorizing three-day attack of woman in St. Catherine's dorm room