A Hall County woman was arrested this week after hatching a fundraising scheme that she claimed would benefit the family of an area firefighter who recently died, deputies said.
Linda Alice Morgan, 51, was taken into custody at her Lula home after investigators said she called a Clermont business last month offering to sell cakes for $40 each. She claimed the proceeds would benefit the family of Hall County fire Sgt. Robby Brown, who died Sept. 13 following a brief battle with cancer, authorities said.
Investigators said she got caught because she provided the wrong name of the firefighter.
“The business owner did not purchase a cake but told Morgan he would call her back,” Hall County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Derreck Booth said in a news release. “In an effort to check the veracity of Morgan’s story, the business owner called Station 11 and provided the name of the so-called firefighter Morgan had given. While (Hall County Fire Services) recently lost a sergeant who worked at the station to cancer, the names didn’t match.”
The business owner then called the sheriff’s office, which launched an investigation into Morgan. She was arrested Tuesday on one count of fraudulent telephone solicitation and later released on $1,300 bond.
This isn’t the first time Morgan has been charged in a baking scheme, records show. The sheriff’s office confirmed she was also arrested in May 2019 after trying to sell cakes for $30 each. In that case, she claimed the proceeds would benefit Free Chapel, a Gainesville megachurch led by Pastor Jentezen Franklin, authorities said.
“This was done without the knowledge or authority of Free Chapel Worship Center,” Booth said.
The latest investigation is ongoing, and anyone who bought a cake from Morgan to help the firefighter’s family is asked to call deputies at 770-297-4686.
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