Ex-Edward Jones advisor gets three-year prison sentence for stealing from widow

A former Edward Jones financial advisor was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Wash., to three years in prison for his scheme to steal from an elderly client who trusted him, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

John S. Winslow, 57, was indicted just over a year ago on four counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, four counts of money laundering, and four counts of making and subscribing a false tax return.

Winslow was a financial advisor at Edward Jones until he was fired following revelations he had stolen over $920,000 in life savings and inheritance from a former client, a widow in her 70s, according to the U. S. Attorney’s Office.

A 23-year veteran of the securities industry, Winslow worked at Edward Jones in Gig Harbor, Wash., until 2021, according to his BrokerCheck report. That’s when he was “discharged” or fired from the firm when he did not tell Edward Jones he had received money from a client.

An Edward Jones spokesperson on Thursday did not return a call to comment. 

“This crime was personal,” U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright said in a statement. “Mr. Winslow had a longstanding relationship with this victim.”

Winslow moved funds out of the victim’s brokerage accounts with Edward Jones and into her outside bank account in multiple transactions, according to records. He did this to conceal his fraud by placing the victim’s funds outside of the firm’s surveillance system, according to the U.S. Attorney.

“From the victim’s outside bank account, the funds were transferred into Winslow’s bank account, again in multiple transactions,” according to the U.S. Attorney. “Winslow used his trusted status with the victim to further the fraud. He falsely claimed to the victim that if she transferred money to him, he would repay her at a higher interest rate than what she was getting from her banks.”

“He visited the victim at her home and instructed the victim to call the bank and put the call on speaker,” according to the US. Attorney. “He then told the victim what she should tell the bank. Winslow then used the victim’s funds for his own benefit.”

“To hide the illicit nature of the funds, Winslow funneled the victim’s funds through extra layers of transactions,” according to the U.S. Attorney. “For example, Winslow purchased gold coins from an online gold retailer in multiple transactions. He then sold those gold coins to two local brick-and-mortar gold retailers before depositing the proceeds into his bank account.”