Minnesota Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Harboring Fugitive

A Minnesota man who harbored and concealed a fugitive in 2022 was sentenced today to nine months in federal prison. Jay Anthony Tapper, age 57, from Rosemount, Minnesota, received the prison term after a May 13, 2025, guilty plea to one count of harboring a fugitive.

At his plea and sentencing hearings, it was established that, in August and September of 2022, Tapper knew there was a federal warrant outstanding for the arrest of Mary Kate Nguyen. Tapper booked hotels for Nguyen in his own name, bought her a camper in which to stay, and served as a lookout during a meeting with a potential fraud victim. Tapper intended to prevent Nguyen's discovery and arrest on then-pending felony charges.

During the time Nguyen was on the lam in 2022, Tapper and Nguyen submitted the winning $1.3 million bid to purchase the former U.S. Courthouse in Bemidji, Minnesota. Tapper later continued to have telephone calls with Nguyen while she was incarcerated, helping her with financial transactions.

U.S. Marshals ultimately arrested Nguyen, and she was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment on fraud and contempt charges in January 2025. Tapper also admitted he made false statements to, and withheld documents from, a grand jury that was investigating Nguyen for financial crimes in 2022.

Tapper was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Tapper was sentenced to 9 months' imprisonment. He must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Tapper was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek and was investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation-Special Enforcement Operations Bureau. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Woodbury (Minnesota) Police Department, U.S. Marshal's Service, Sioux County Sheriff's Office, Iowa State Patrol, Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement, and Iowa Division of Intelligence assisted in the investigation.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file numbers are 25-CR-4024 (Tapper) and 21-CR-3037 (Nguyen).

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