FOND DU LAC – A former Fond du Lac business owner has been convicted of identity theft after almost two years in court.
Lawrence Foster, 45, pleaded no contest April 20 to one charge of felony identity theft obtaining money or credit.
According to court records, Judge Laura Lavey sentenced him April 22 to two years probation and a jail sentence of one year, imposed and stayed.
Foster was charged in May 2024, and the criminal complaint listed evidence for several instances around June 2023 of using identifying information and credit cards from three victims, all related to his website business REVCOM LLC, to obtain money.
These instances include opening business credit cards in one employee and business partner’s name, attempting to do the same with a second partner, and putting unauthorized charges on a local client organization’s credit card.
Four other felony counts of misappropriating identification information to obtain money were dismissed but read in.
Foster was ordered to pay restitution of $10,151.61 to one of the partners and $1,815.50 to the other.
Foster’s business Gathered Roots closed that same summer
At the time, Foster was known in the community as an owner of downtown business Gathered Roots, which closed at the end of June 2023 as a result of “personal losses.”
According to the criminal complaint, some of the money from fraudulent credit cards in one victim’s name was spent on vendors and other expenses for Gathered Roots.
Foster had also previously run for Fond du Lac City Council in 2021 and state Assembly in 2022.
Oshkosh Police Department investigated the case, and Fond du Lac County Assistant District Attorney Joseph Radish prosecuted.
Daphne Lemke is the Streetwise reporter for the Fond du Lac Reporter. Contact her at dlemke@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Former Fond du Lac business owner gets probation in identity theft case
Reporting by Daphne Lemke, Fond du Lac Reporter / Fond du Lac Reporter
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