Spending spree ends in arrest

NEW LONDON — On May 7, Detective Sergeants Jason Claussen and Steven Kincaid visited GFL Environmental on State Highway 54. They approached employee Jessica L. Benotch, 43, working at her desk. She admitted she knew why they were there and agreed to speak with the detectives in a private back room. The jig was up.
According to the criminal complaint, the detectives had Deputy Jessie Minehan’s report of a 77-year-old Mukwa man defrauded by three unauthorized charges on his banking statement. That is what started the investigation.
They had surveillance photos of her picking up her order at Domino’s Pizza in New London, along with images of her black Chrysler 200 with silver rims. She paid for the pizza with stolen credit card information.
They had a Flock camera image of her driving at County Trunk T and East Beckert Road the day the pizza was picked up. A records check of the plate number revealed it was registered to Benotch at a Neenah address.
They also had her criminal record, a long list of civil fraud cases, theft of movable property, and 14 previous theft and fraud cases in Outagamie County records.
She had been employed at GFL Environmental since April 2025. She confessed to using a customer’s card to buy pizza and make two personal loan payments. Part of her daily job duties involved collecting credit card information from customers and entering it into the corporate computer database. She would write down the numbers for her own personal use.
With the manager’s permission, detectives searched Benotch’s workplace desk. Next to her computer screen, they found a closed notebook. On the first page, separated from normal business notes, was a list of customer names, addresses, and credit card numbers.
A search of Benotch’s 2013 Chrysler 200 revealed further evidence. In the center console, detectives found a slip of paper containing the financial information of a second victim, a receipt from May 5 bearing the victim’s name and a piece of paper with a third victim’s name, address, and credit card number.
During a recorded interview at the jail, Benotch signed a waiver and admitted she had understated the scope of her actions. She revealed that she had been stealing and using client credit cards since January or February 2026.
Benotch acknowledged using all the credit card numbers listed in her office notebook until they were declined or deactivated. She admitted she used the stolen information to pay for food, retail items, and personal bills. She had only ever made two legitimate payments on her vehicle loan with her own funds and had paid off an entire title loan using stolen customer accounts. Some of the stolen cards were also loaded into her personal CashApp account.
In total, Benotch estimated she had defrauded approximately 12 customers out of an estimated $2,500.
Benotch was charged with one count of identity theft for financial gain against an elderly or disabled person, and 12 additional counts of identity theft for financial gain.