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A Clackamas County inmate who tried to sell a car he never owned — using a fake bill of sale to spring it from the sheriff’s impound lot — has been handed a two-year prison sentence. The scheme, hatched from inside a jail cell, unraveled when a detective monitoring recorded phone calls tipped off authorities.
Isaiah Andrew Mohr, 30, was convicted by a jury in Clackamas County Circuit Court of first-degree forgery and identity theft. Prosecutors said the plan was meant to raise cash for his bail, but instead it landed him more time behind bars. The sentencing took place on July 15, 2025, according to court records.
Mohr was originally booked into the Clackamas County Jail in April 2025 on charges of mail theft and eluding police. While awaiting trial, he shared a cell with another inmate. That cellmate had been arrested while driving a vehicle that did not belong to him — and the car was subsequently impounded by the sheriff’s office.
Seeing an opportunity, Mohr allegedly devised a plan in June to sell the impounded car. He recruited his girlfriend, 47-year-old Adriane Shelton, to help fabricate a bill of sale. The forged document claimed Shelton had purchased the vehicle from a man back in March 2025. On June 12, Shelton walked into the sheriff’s office with the phony paperwork, hoping to drive the car away.
But a West Linn police detective who had been monitoring Mohr’s jail calls caught wind of the scheme. The detective alerted sheriff’s deputies, who arrested Shelton on the spot. She now faces charges of forgery, identity theft, and criminal conspiracy. Her case is still pending, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for August.
The case highlights the growing role of jail call monitoring in cracking down on inmate-led fraud. Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office routinely records inmate phone conversations, which can be reviewed by law enforcement. In this instance, the detective’s vigilance prevented a vehicle from being illegally transferred.
“Inmates often think their calls are private, but they’re not,” said a former federal prosecutor with expertise in correctional surveillance, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Jail call monitoring is a vital tool for uncovering ongoing criminal activity, even when someone is already behind bars.”
Investigators digging into the vehicle’s ownership discovered a troubling twist. The car was registered to a woman who had died in late 2024. How the cellmate came to be driving it, and whether the death was related to the car, remains unclear. Detectives have not announced any additional charges, but the case is still open.
“We’re looking into whether the vehicle was involved in any fraudulent transfer or estate issue,” said a spokesperson for the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. “We want to make sure the next of kin are not victimized again.”
Mohr’s two-year sentence will run consecutively to any time he still owes on his original charges. He is currently held at the Clackamas County Jail awaiting transfer to a state prison. His attorney declined to comment on the verdict.
Meanwhile, Shelton remains out on bail, ordered to surrender her passport and avoid contact with Mohr except through legal counsel. If convicted on all counts, she faces up to five years in prison.
The case is part of a worrying trend in Oregon jails. According to a 2024 report from the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, schemes involving forged documents, identity theft, and real estate fraud have increased by 18% among inmates over the past three years. The 2025 data, while not yet finalized, suggests the trend is continuing.
“The ease of access to personal information and the ability to coordinate with outside accomplices make jails a hotbed for fraud,” said a criminologist at Portland State University. “But law enforcement is catching up with better technology and interagency cooperation.”
The deceased woman’s family has been notified of the attempted fraud, but the sheriff’s office has not released their identity. A victim advocate said the family is “shaken” by the discovery that someone tried to use their relative’s property for a criminal scheme.
“We’re working to ensure the property is returned to the rightful heirs,” the advocate said. “The family is cooperating fully.”
Isaiah Mohr’s attempt to turn a jail cell into a command center for fraud ultimately backfired. Thanks to diligent monitoring and quick police work, the car stayed in the impound lot, and the inmate now faces a longer stay behind bars. His girlfriend’s fate will be decided in court later this year.
The case serves as a reminder that in the digital age, even the walls of a jail cell have ears — and eyes.
This article was updated on July 16, 2025, to reflect the latest court proceedings and exclusive comments from legal experts.
