A former employee of Reeds in Walker, Minn., is accused of making 40 fraudulent purchases over the course of two years by using dormant and unused gift cards. (Kim Hyatt/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

WALKER, MINN. – A former employee of a family-owned outfitter is accused of using dormant and unused gift cards in a $40,000 scheme of fraudulently purchasing outdoor gear and 18 guns, then reselling some of the merchandise customized through her laser engraving business.

Kelsey Marie Rutland, 38, worked at Reeds Family Outdoor Outfitters in Walker, where the thefts began in September 2021 and continued through November 2023 for a total of 40 fraudulent transactions. She’s accused of stealing coolers, grills, Livescopes, chairs, tables, ammunition and Garmin GPS navigation systems, according to 26 felony charges of theft and racketeering. Rutland, of Lake George, Minn., appeared in a virtual court hearing Monday when her new attorney requested a continuance given the nature of the charges filed in Cass County District Court this spring.

Anthony Bussa, partner at CJB Law, said Tuesday that he was just retained by Rutland on Monday and is still learning about the case.

“We’re going to let it play out in court,” Bussa told the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Rutland said in a message that she was advised not to comment.

She owns and operates JB Designs, a laser engraving business, out of her home 25 miles west of Walker. She’s accused of selling customized stolen Yeti mugs, an engraved Remington shotgun and other items online and at markets. Products swindled from Reeds and the money paid to Rutland in exchange for the stolen goods is an estimated $40,700.

Rutland’s family and friends “were unwittingly duped” and “led to believe they were getting an employee family discount,” Cass County Attorney Ben Lindstrom said in an email to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

“Some firearms were recovered. Others were not,” Lindstrom said. “The thefts were accomplished through the normal store protocol which would require transfer to another federal firearms dealer who would do the federally required background check. Thus, any initial transfers would have been to eligible persons.”

Lindstrom said he’s not considering additional charges against Rutland or others.

“That said, if additional information came to light and it affirmatively implicated others, we would absolutely pursue it,” he added.

Over the course of two years, Rutland stole 18 firearms and attempted to steal two more rifles in November, but a firearms dealer denied the transfer.

Owners of Reeds, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, were alerted of suspicious gift card activity on Dec. 27.

According to charges, the store’s web team found that a man made a purchase they felt was suspicious. In an email thread to several staff members, Rutland identified the man as her brother. Charges say that she became upset and said something about her brother not being a thief.

Rutland called in sick the next day when staff investigated further and realized she had been adding money to gift cards to make purchases herself or share the gift card information with others to make purchases.

“In some cases, the gift cards were dormant. As such, one could presume the balances would likely never be used,” charges say.

In one example, Rutland shared the custom engraving of a Remington 870 shotgun on the JB Designs Facebook page. The serial number was visible. Investigators linked it to a purchase Rutland made in August 2023 with a gift card purchased by Ducks Unlimited in 2021 and shipped to a customer in Maryland. The card was unused until Rutland found it in the system.

An investigator with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office listened to a recorded conversation between Rutland, another employee and a Reeds owner. In it, Rutland said she thought her computer was hacked, but the store’s tech support team didn’t locate any malware.

Investigators searched her home in January. According to the charges, Rutland said she knew why law enforcement was there and told them, using an expletive: “Life sucks, times are tough, [things are] expensive.”

She said when friends and family would ask her what she could get with her “discount,” she would give them a price, and they would pay her with cash, check or Venmo. She said she would have packages sent to their address “so it doesn’t implicate me,” charges say.

Rutland said part of her duties at Reeds involved clearing out the gift cards. According to the charges, she said she knew what she was doing was wrong.

In the JB Designs workshop area, investigators recovered $1,000 in stolen Yeti products. She admitted that the Yeti cups “donated” to a fire department were fraudulently purchased with gift cards. At one point, she opened a gun safe and said the three firearms inside had been purchased with fraudulent cards.

Investigators also recovered months of text messages that had been deleted the day Rutland called in sick to work. The messages pertained to several firearm purchases and included photos of gift cards.

When investigators asked Rutland if she knew how much was stolen, she guessed $15,000. When the investigator motioned higher, charges say, she asked, “$20,000?”

Rutland’s next court appearance is Nov. 4.