Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts of Los Angeles, California and the U.S.

January 28, 2008

MEMBER OF EAST BAY IDENTITY THEFT RING SENTENCED TO 57 MONTHS

OAKLAND – United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that yesterday Daniel Armstrong, a/k/a Maurice Shabazz, 27, of Berkeley, California, was sentenced for his involvement in an identity theft ring which included using a stolen identity to commit bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349, and for violating a term of supervised release from a previous conviction also associated with identity theft.

The sentence was imposed following Armstrong’s guilty plea, in which he admitted that between May 2005 and January 2006, he was part of a conspiracy to defraud banks and individuals of funds by opening accounts at various banks insured by the FDIC, such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America. In summary, the scheme operated as follows: accounts were opened fraudulently in individuals’ names at banks where the individuals had an account and the ability to obtain a line of credit; a line of credit was opened fraudulently in those individuals’ names at their respective banks; the perpetrator then drew on the line of credit and caused money to be transferred into the newly opened account; and then the perpetrators withdrew that money or transferred the money to another bank account and withdrew that money. Many of these victims’ personal information was fraudulently obtained from Autobahn Motors in Belmont, California. Further, as part of this conspiracy to defraud banks and individuals, co-conspirators traveled to Nevada or Arizona to obtain a false identification in the name of the individual being defrauded. The co-conspirators then went to banks in Nevada or Arizona, posed as the individual being defrauded, and opened bank accounts. The money deposited into these newly opened bank accounts was withdrawn in the state in which the account was opened or transferred to another bank account, where the money could be and was withdrawn in California.

As part of Armstrong’s involvement, and consistent with the modus operandi of the scheme, Armstrong drove a co-conspirator to Arizona from California where they obtained and used an Arizona identification card in the name of an individual whose identity was stolen from Autobahn Motors. Armstrong’s co-conspirator was able to withdraw $9,000 from the more than $140,000 line of credit the conspirators had set up using the stolen identity. Armstrong’s co-conspirator, however, was arrested by Phoenix Police Department officers before she was able to withdraw more money from the line of credit.

United States District Judge Claudia Wilken sentenced Armstrong to a total of 57 months imprisonment, 42 months of which was for the bank fraud crime involving the activity in Arizona and 15 months of which was for violating Armstrong’s supervised release following a prior conviction of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1029 and 2 - Fraudulent Use of An Access Device and Aiding and Abetting. Judge Wilken also sentenced Armstrong to pay a fine of $5,000, restitution in the amount of $9,000, and a $100 special assessment.

Shashi Kewalramani is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Lead Legal Assistant Cynthia Daniel. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service

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CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER

JOSEPH SHEMARIA

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Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts of Los Angeles, California and the U.S.