[ad_1]
Baltimore, Md. – Dominic Jerry Robinson, 27, of Parkville, Md., Today pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy to steal mail and theft of mail in connection with various fraud schemes.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Post Inspector in Charge Daniel A. Adame of the US Postal Inspection Service – Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge Bo Keane of the US Secret Service – Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department.
According to his guilty plea, between May 2019 and March 2020, Robinson conspired with others, including Nicholas Milano White and Cedric Jonathan McNeal Parker, to engage in fraud schemes and criminal conduct, including mail theft. , fraud involving checks and money orders, trafficking and possession of false identification documents and illegal possession of counterfeit credit and debit cards.
For example, Robinson admits that on October 10, 2019, a fake check in the amount of $ 3,500 drawn on a victim’s trust account was deposited into a “deposit account,” a bank account used to deposit and transfer the fraud proceeds without the consent or authorization of the account holder, a resident of Illinois. That same day, Robinson was captured under surveillance withdrawing $ 3,500 from the deposit account at an ATM in Baltimore.
As detailed in Robinson’s plea agreement, on February 5, 2020, co-accused Nicholas Milano White deposited a stolen check for $ 4,250 into a bank account opened in Robinson’s name. The check was stolen from a mail collection box in Rosedale, Maryland. The stolen check was then amended to show Robinson as the payee and endorsed with Robinson’s signature. ATM surveillance footage captured White stepping out of a white sedan registered with Robinson’s name in order to make the fraudulent deposit. Within two days of the fraudulent deposit, approximately $ 2,382.50 was debited from Robinson’s account through withdrawals and purchases.
Between March 1, 2020 and March 8, 2020, Robinson, White, and McNeal Parker stole mail from multiple USPS collection boxes. On March 1, 2020, White sent Robinson a list of SMS mail collection box locations. In the early morning hours of March 8, 2020, Robinson picked up White and McNeal Parker and traveled with them in Robinson’s white sedan to a mail collection box in Rosedale, Maryland, where White and McNeal Parker were captured on surveillance footage exiting the vehicle, stealing mail from a collection box and re-entering the vehicle with the stolen mail. Robinson and his co-defendants traveled to several other locations and stole mail from at least two other collection boxes. Officers from the Baltimore County Police Department began chasing Robinson’s vehicle, which escaped. Law enforcement eventually located the vehicle in a residential area of ââPikesville, Maryland. The vehicle was unoccupied and gloves, garbage bags and approximately 358 pieces of untreated US mail were on the ground outside the vehicle. Law enforcement found and arrested Robinson and White nearby.
The mail stolen by Robinson and his co-conspirators included mail filed by at least about 136 postal customers and addressed to the Internal Revenue Service, the Comptroller of Maryland and many other government agencies, businesses and individuals. About 48 victims reported that the mail stolen by Robinson and his accomplices contained bank checks or other financial instruments worth approximately $ 48,938. Many victims have also reported that their stolen mail contained documents listing Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (âPIIâ) and / or sensitive financial information.
During a search of Robinson’s vehicle, law enforcement recovered a red cell phone, three unissued credit cards in Robinson’s name, a fake photo ID showing a name with the initials AD, three money orders totaling $ 1,575 and indicating AD as the beneficiary; and a mini portable encoder, a device used to encode magnetic strips on credit or debit cards. Further investigation revealed that the money orders found in the vehicle were stolen from letterboxes in February 2020. The money orders were then changed to remove the names of the original payees and to show AD’s name as the payee. of each mandate.
Examination of the red cell phone confirmed that the cell phone was owned and used by Robinson and revealed text messages about mail theft and fraud by forging checks and money orders and negotiating stolen checks. Robinson’s cell phone also contained text messages he exchanged with White asking him to produce fake photo ID for another person in exchange for payment. Robinson sent White a photo of the person’s face and some credentials, including a Social Security number belonging to another person. White eventually responded with a photo of the fake photo ID he produced at Robinson’s request.
Robinson’s cell phone also contained sensitive personal and financial information belonging to other people. Law enforcement officials recovered from cellphone images of other people’s W-2 tax forms and other sensitive documents, including medical records. Robinson admitted that he also had credit and debit card “deposits” on his cell phone, which included information associated with at least 20 credit and debit cards issued to other people and names and addresses. individuals and that he had incurred fraudulent charges totaling at least $ 6,284.19 on those credit and debit card accounts. Robinson also had notes on the phone list of personal information, including Social Security numbers, assigned to at least 20 real people. Examination of Robinson’s cell phone showed that he had scoured websites of personal data brokers and websites that illegally market and distribute sensitive credit and debit card information.
As part of his plea deal, Robinson will be required to pay restitution for the full amount of the victims’ losses, which the parties have stipulated to be at least $ 12,366.69.
Robinson and the government have agreed that if the court accepts the plea deal, Robinson will be sentenced to between 30 and 42 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has sentencing February 3, 2022 at 3:00 p.m.
Nicholas Milano White, 30, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced on March 30, 2021 to eight years in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $ 29,234. Cedric Jonathan McNeal-Parker, 30, of Randallstown, Md., Has previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal mail and theft of mail and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Secret Service and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the office of the Inspector General of the Treasury for the Tax Administration for his assistance. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant US Attorney Matthew J. Maddox, who is pursuing the federal case.
For more information on the Maryland US Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and the resources available to report fraud, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/report -fraud.
# # #
[ad_2]