|
| |
Internet False ID Scam Defendants Sentenced
Washington, D.C. - United States Attorney Wilma A. Lewis announced today that
four individuals have been sentenced for their guilty pleas to federal charges
stemming from a scheme in which they defrauded consumers of money by advertising
for sale on the Internet false identification documents and failing to provide
those documents to the consumers who had mailed them cash and money orders.
The
mastermind of the scheme, defendant Anthony W. Wright, age 31, of Atlanta,
Georgia, had pleaded guilty to mail fraud. Tavares Owens, age 35, of Upper
Malboro, MD, and Clarence Howard, age 32, from Capitol Heights, MD, pled guilty
to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, while D’Artangnon M. Barnes, age 26, of
Germantown, MD, pled guilty to fraud in connection with identification
documents.
According to information provided to the Court by Assistant
United States Attorney Miriam Smolen, from February 2000, through August, 2000,
Anthony W. Wright directed his co-defendants in a scheme to defraud consumers of
money by advertising for sale on the Internet false identification products,
such as drivers’ licenses and state identification cards, causing people to mail
cash and money orders to various mail boxes, and failing to provide those
products to the consumers. During this time period, over 2000 people mailed
orders for false identification documents with an average payment of $100 in
cash or money orders. Four hundred and fifteen victims, responding to a
questionnaire from the government, reported they never received any of the
documents they ordered; in total, these victims lost $51,200.
Anthony W.
Wright registered, created and maintained four Websites on the Internet under
the domain names of "fake-id.org," "id-2000.net," "false-id.net," and
"identification-cards.com." Proclaiming "Quality so real -- It hurts!," the
Websites advertised for sale fake and false identification documents, such as
driver’s licenses, birth certificates, Social Security cards, and degrees from
universities. Anthony W. Wright, who was responsible for the Website content,
described the quality of the identification documents for sale as "high quality
products," that would "match the most current version of any states’ ID,
including holograms and the new PVC plastic cards (credit card style)," using
"templates hav[ing] the same state seals, signatures, stamps, watermarks and
security measures as the original state ID’s." In the HTML language, which
Internet search engines use to find Websites, Anthony Wright wrote, "We are here
to sell you all the fake IDs, drivers licenses, passports, drivers licenses,
birth certificates you are NOT legally allowed to own." The images of the
licenses and identifications on the Websites were actual copies of real drivers’
licenses which had been scanned into computerized form from a publication which
prints pictures of all states’ licenses.
Each Website had an order form
which directed the customer to send only cash or a money order to an address.
These addresses were mailboxes that had been opened by Tavares Owens, Clarence
Howard and D’Artangnon Barnes, acting under Wright’s directions, in four
different states, including the District of Columbia, and the Grand Caymans.
Owens, Howard and Barnes would collect the mail and forward it to Anthony
Wright, who kept the cash and money orders, and threw away the customers’ order
forms. From February to August 2000, Anthony Wright deposited over $170,000 in
his bank accounts derived from this scheme. Wright paid his co-defendants a
share of the proceeds from the money they stole. No identification documents
were ever produced.
United States District Court Judge Thomas Penfield
Jackson found that Anthony Wright was the leader and organizer of the criminal
scheme and sentenced him to 21 months incarceration. Anthony Wright also
forfeited to the United States two bank accounts totaling $38,000, which are
available to repay consumers for their losses. Judge Jackson also sentenced
Tavares Owens and D’artangnon Barnes to a period of probation with six months
home detention, and Clarence Howard to a period of probation.
In
announcing the sentencings, United States Attorney Lewis praised the superb
investigative work of United States Postal Inspector James Factor, and commended
Assistant U.S. Attorney Miriam M. Smolen who prosecuted the case.
Extracted from:
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/WrightSent.htm.
| |
|
