Freedom for Angela
Donation protected
Angela Foreman has been incarcerated in Ottertail County, Minnesota since July for a crime she did not commit.
My heart sank when I heard the mechanical voice on the other end of the phone, “this is a collect call from an inmate at the county…” It was Angela, and it was the first phone call I had received since the state of Minnesota had driven across the country to take Angela from her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I had tried to get in touch with her for a week, and I was immediately broken and relieved once I heard her voice. We cried and laughed a little and cried more. But the words that I will never forget are the profound words of faith she proclaimed right before our 5 minutes were up. “Bethany, this is so hard... But, I know God has my back, and I know He has a plan. Who knows, maybe he wants me to help someone else.”
I have known Angela for a year and a half and have been her mentor for now ten months. I have watched her work harder than anyone I know to better her life and climb out of the depths she was in. She has been through more than I can possibly imagine- hard things, really hard things- situations that are bound to shake one’s faith. Yet Angela’s faith has grown and flourished through the countless hardships. She has amazed me in every way. She once told me that one of her biggest motivations to get off of the streets was so that she could help others. In January, she and her son finally got approved for housing, after being on lists and working to find a place they could afford for two years. Then I witnessed her motivations turn quickly into actions. She began helping others.
This is the kind of person that Angela Foreman is: her heart beats for God and for others.
Angela is being charged with identity fraud by the state of Minnesota, a state she has never visited. This charge does not make sense according to the facts of this case. In June 2018, Angela cashed a check that was written to her for $5,900. Someone had friended her on instagram. Over the course of two months, he convinced her that he has her friend and wanted to help her financially. This seems like a lot of money, and seems to us like an easily identifiable trap, but she was absolutely desperate for help. At the time she was homeless, she needed back surgery, gallbladder surgery and mouth surgery. She had no car and no money. She was the ideal target for a con artist.
When I spoke to the detective on the case in Minnesota, he explained, “these situations happen to the homeless community. I see it all the time”. So I was dumbfounded when the state of Minnesota continued with her extradition from New Mexico, knowing full well that this “happens...all the time”. This means that the detective on the case and the state of Minnesota are aware that the homeless community gets taken advantage of, conned, and falsely accused “all the time”, yet they are unwilling to take a closer look and go after the real criminal!
Angela is now the scapegoat for the state of Minnesota, because they are under pressure to solve the case. A man on Instagram befriended her and slowly gained her trust. He said he wanted to help her situation, and then he used her against her knowledge. Again, I want to reiterate that this kind of con artist is everywhere and this brand of deception happens all the time, especially with homeless individuals. Our job is to fight for justice. The state of Minnesota sees one victim, but the reality is that there are two victims in this case: the person who’s check was stolen, and our friend, Angela.
We are raising this money for Angela’s appeal, on October 10th. The state of Minnesota will not strike a deal with her, unless the money is present. Her lawyer sees her innocence as clearly as I do, and as clearly as the State of New Mexico did before her extradition. However, taking this case before a jury in a trial is a very high risk. Her lawyer expressed to me that the state of Minnesota wants to convict her so that they can call this case “solved”. That is not justice. The better option for Angela would be to appeal to the state of Minnesota with the money in hand and ask for these charges to be dropped. Her lawyer also expressed to me that this case is just about money for the state of Minnesota. (On a side note, the jail that she is currently in, charges her $20 per day to be there!) A felony charge in this case will effectively put Angela back on the streets. She has fought against poverty, against illness, against abuse, and against homelessness. A felony charge will undo all the hard work she has done to get her life back together.
We are her community, her family, and her friends, and it is our duty to get her back home.
If you cannot contribute financially, please pray. She needs strength. She needs peace, and she needs to be reminded that she is not forgotten.
***I want to add that if this plea is not accepted by the state of Minnesota, then we will send your generous contributions back to you. We have until October 10th to collect the full amount, so please contribute as you feel led. We have much work and not much time.
Thank you so much for the support and consideration for our sweet friend and sister, Angela.
My heart sank when I heard the mechanical voice on the other end of the phone, “this is a collect call from an inmate at the county…” It was Angela, and it was the first phone call I had received since the state of Minnesota had driven across the country to take Angela from her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I had tried to get in touch with her for a week, and I was immediately broken and relieved once I heard her voice. We cried and laughed a little and cried more. But the words that I will never forget are the profound words of faith she proclaimed right before our 5 minutes were up. “Bethany, this is so hard... But, I know God has my back, and I know He has a plan. Who knows, maybe he wants me to help someone else.”
I have known Angela for a year and a half and have been her mentor for now ten months. I have watched her work harder than anyone I know to better her life and climb out of the depths she was in. She has been through more than I can possibly imagine- hard things, really hard things- situations that are bound to shake one’s faith. Yet Angela’s faith has grown and flourished through the countless hardships. She has amazed me in every way. She once told me that one of her biggest motivations to get off of the streets was so that she could help others. In January, she and her son finally got approved for housing, after being on lists and working to find a place they could afford for two years. Then I witnessed her motivations turn quickly into actions. She began helping others.
This is the kind of person that Angela Foreman is: her heart beats for God and for others.
Angela is being charged with identity fraud by the state of Minnesota, a state she has never visited. This charge does not make sense according to the facts of this case. In June 2018, Angela cashed a check that was written to her for $5,900. Someone had friended her on instagram. Over the course of two months, he convinced her that he has her friend and wanted to help her financially. This seems like a lot of money, and seems to us like an easily identifiable trap, but she was absolutely desperate for help. At the time she was homeless, she needed back surgery, gallbladder surgery and mouth surgery. She had no car and no money. She was the ideal target for a con artist.
When I spoke to the detective on the case in Minnesota, he explained, “these situations happen to the homeless community. I see it all the time”. So I was dumbfounded when the state of Minnesota continued with her extradition from New Mexico, knowing full well that this “happens...all the time”. This means that the detective on the case and the state of Minnesota are aware that the homeless community gets taken advantage of, conned, and falsely accused “all the time”, yet they are unwilling to take a closer look and go after the real criminal!
Angela is now the scapegoat for the state of Minnesota, because they are under pressure to solve the case. A man on Instagram befriended her and slowly gained her trust. He said he wanted to help her situation, and then he used her against her knowledge. Again, I want to reiterate that this kind of con artist is everywhere and this brand of deception happens all the time, especially with homeless individuals. Our job is to fight for justice. The state of Minnesota sees one victim, but the reality is that there are two victims in this case: the person who’s check was stolen, and our friend, Angela.
We are raising this money for Angela’s appeal, on October 10th. The state of Minnesota will not strike a deal with her, unless the money is present. Her lawyer sees her innocence as clearly as I do, and as clearly as the State of New Mexico did before her extradition. However, taking this case before a jury in a trial is a very high risk. Her lawyer expressed to me that the state of Minnesota wants to convict her so that they can call this case “solved”. That is not justice. The better option for Angela would be to appeal to the state of Minnesota with the money in hand and ask for these charges to be dropped. Her lawyer also expressed to me that this case is just about money for the state of Minnesota. (On a side note, the jail that she is currently in, charges her $20 per day to be there!) A felony charge in this case will effectively put Angela back on the streets. She has fought against poverty, against illness, against abuse, and against homelessness. A felony charge will undo all the hard work she has done to get her life back together.
We are her community, her family, and her friends, and it is our duty to get her back home.
If you cannot contribute financially, please pray. She needs strength. She needs peace, and she needs to be reminded that she is not forgotten.
***I want to add that if this plea is not accepted by the state of Minnesota, then we will send your generous contributions back to you. We have until October 10th to collect the full amount, so please contribute as you feel led. We have much work and not much time.
Thank you so much for the support and consideration for our sweet friend and sister, Angela.
Organizer
Bethany Whaley
Organizer
Santa Fe, NM