By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
Claire Taylor believed she had to drive her son, Jason Taylor, to places like Methuen, Massachusetts to make “daily deals” as part of an official investigation being overseen by United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
Jason Taylor used cash his 65-year-old mom handed over, under supposed orders from Roberts, as well as money he got from his aunt and uncle, Joan, 64, and Robert Auger, 74, to make “deals” with his purported contacts.
Jason Taylor took $68,000 from his mom over the course of about five years, and $191,000 from his aunt and uncle in an intricate and somewhat incoherent scheme. Jason Taylor knew he was financially harming his relatives to the point the Augers almost lost their home, but he kept going, according to court records.
When his relatives tried to stop paying, Jason Taylor used the Chief Justice of the United States as a sympathetic and authoritative character to keep them handing over their savings.
“We must have this last instance of Mr. and Mrs. Auger sending you the money so that I can add it to my offices report and at last stop this madness,” the fake Roberts wrote in an email Jason Taylor shared with his aunt and uncle.
Jason Taylor, 38, of Pelham, was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison on Monday during a hearing in Hillsborough Superior Court — South in Nashua. He previously pleaded guilty to thefts by deception and financial exploitation. As part of the sentence, he will also have a seven and a half to 15 year sentence suspended hanging over him once he’s released. Jason Taylor is also ordered to repay the $260,000 he stole once he gets out of prison.
“Financial exploitation can have devastating consequences, particularly when someone abuses the trust of family members who believe they are helping a loved one,” said Attorney General John Formella. “Protecting older adults from fraud and financial abuse is an important responsibility of this office. We will continue to hold those who exploit vulnerable adults accountable under the law.”
It’s not clear what Jason Taylor did with all the money he scammed from his mom, aunt, and uncle, though court records indicate he used many of those “daily deals” to buy drugs. The whole scheme might best be summed up by Jason Taylor himself, writing as Roberts.
“I agree you poor people have been taken advantage of. Your kindness and understanding has been manipulated to pad the resume of an individual who is supposed to be helping you,” the fake Roberts wrote.
Jason Taylor had differing elaborate stories, one for his mom and one for his aunt and uncle. In both, he claimed he was part of an investigation into some unspecified corruption working with Roberts. Jason Taylor forged emails and letters from Roberts, Essex County District Attorney John Blodgett, and Harvard Legal Aid attorneys at various times to bolster his lies, according to court records.
At the center of the narrative was the need for both his mom, and his aunt and uncle to give him cash so that he could conduct the “daily deals” with an unknown agent in Massachusetts cities known for their drug trade like Lowell, Lawrence, and Methuen, according to court records.
Both Claire Taylor and the Augers were told they would get reimbursed for their money that was used in the investigation. They were also threatened with prosecution and jail by way of a phony Department of Justice order if they stopped giving Jason Taylor their money for the investigation, according to court records.
“[F]ailure to submit too, and acquiesce to the requirements of the judiciary, will incur the resultant immediate and full dismissal of our case in its entirety, therefore, presenting a concrete certainty that all of you be sentenced to face all penalties and financial reparation with resultant prosecution to the maximum extent of the law,” one of the fake orders states.
But Claire Taylor and the Augers were already being punished, according to court records. Jason Taylor had Joan Auger write a letter to a fictitious official describing that she was “financially, emotionally, and mentally put through HELL.”
His own mother’s emotional trauma and humiliation were captured on video by Jason Taylor, according to court records.
“For example, the State observed one particularly disturbing video of Claire, taken by the defendant, on or about September 7, 2024, which shows Claire crying, shaking, and wailing that the case was ‘bankrupting us,’” the State’s sentencing memorandum states.
But knowing that he was putting his mother, aunt and uncle through emotional torture did not stop Jason Taylor, according to the sentencing memo.
“[T]he fraudulent scheme in this case was not merely a series of lies cobbled together by the defendant to get his fix. It was a saga carefully crafted by the defendant that he developed over time to ensure that the victims remained deceived and committed to continuing to fund the case despite the hardship they were experiencing,” the memo states. “What is worse is that the defendant knew that he was putting the victims through hell, but he kept doing it, day after year, year after year, because his wants were more important than their needs.”