California woman sentenced to 18 months for bank fraud

MISSOULA - A California woman who defrauded a local bank of over $170,000 was sentenced today to 18 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and restitution in the amount of $170,666, Acting U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith said.

A federal jury found Kristin Renee Zelonish Edwards, 39, guilty on four counts of bank fraud in February 2026 after a two-day trial.

U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided.

The government alleged in court documents and at trial that Edwards defrauded Glacier Bank of over $170,000 by depositing 12 fraudulent savings bonds at four different bank branches in Northwest Montana.

Edwards traveled from California to Montana to deposit the savings bonds, making four trips between October 2022 and January 2023. Glacier Bank received notice in February 2023 from the United States Treasury Department that one of the savings bonds deposited by Edwards was fraudulent. Glacier Bank's security officer called Edwards and informed her of the fraudulent bond. Her response was that she found the savings bonds while going through boxes of her deceased grandmother's items with her mother.

Witnesses testified Edwards never received bonds from her grandmother's estate. The savings bonds deposited by Edwards that were alleged to have been purchased by her grandmother had issue dates as early as 1980 - seven years before Edwards was born. The fraudulent savings bonds have Edwards' Social Security Number printed on them, which means, if Edwards' story were true, her grandmother bought the bonds in Edwards' name and with Edwards' Social Security Number years before Edwards was born.

The U.S. Secret Service analyzed the savings bonds and found they had several common defects and were not made with the printing presses used for authentic savings bonds. Edwards' fraudulent savings bonds also share a common source with other fraudulent savings bonds that were deposited in Idaho and Colorado by Edwards' unindicted co-conspirator.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katy Stack and Brian Lowney prosecuted the case. The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service.