KANSAS CITY, KANSAS – A Kansas City woman and a man who allegedly posed as her boyfriend have been indicted on charges of running an adoption scam in which she pretended to be pregnant with twins and willing to let them be adopted in return for money and gifts, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

The indictment alleges the defendants defrauded 14 couples who spent money hiring attorneys and adoption agencies, purchasing airline tickets, booking hotel rooms and making gifts they believed would pave the way for them to adopt.

34-year-old Roxanne Janel Jones, and 28-year-old Taj A. Isaiah, both of Kansas City, Mo., are charged with one count of conspiracy and four counts of wire fraud. In addition, Jones is charged with three counts of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Jones initially was charged in a criminal complaint filed April 13, 2011, in U.S. District Court in Kansas City.

The indictment alleges Isaiah was an acquaintance of Jones who helped her with the scam by pretending at various times to be her husband, her boyfriend or her landlord. The indictment alleges the defendants defrauded couples from California, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and Tennessee, as well as Bonner Springs, Olathe, Shawnee, Leavenworth, and Florence.

In one case, the indictment alleges, Jones contacted American Adoptions, an adoption agency in Overland Park, claiming to be pregnant with twin boys and willing to give them up for adoption. Jones told the company’s adoption specialist she needed help with rent and groceries. As a result, a couple in Minnesota wired $16,265 to an escrow account in Kansas City and the adoption agency began drawing from the account to make payments to Jones.

In another case, the indictment alleges, a California couple flew to Kansas City where they took Jones and Isaiah to dinner and bought Jones massages, a haircut, groceries and meals. When Jones sent them texts to say the twins had been born and could be picked up at the nursery at KU Medical Center, the hospital told the couple there was no record of Jones giving birth. When Jones tried to renew the talk of adoption, she told the couple at various times she had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and she had been injured in a car accident.

Upon conviction, the maximum penalty for conspiracy, wire fraud, and mail fraud is 20-years on each count.

For aggravated identity theft, it a mandatory two years consecutive to other sentences.