18-year term in identity theft
A federal judge has sentenced a 36-year-old Philadelphia man to 212 months - nearly 18 years - in prison for his part in a multistate bank-fraud and identity-theft ring that targeted bank customers between February 2004 and November 2005. The total loss from the schemes exceeded $400,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
A federal judge has sentenced a 36-year-old Philadelphia man to 212 months - nearly 18 years - in prison for his part in a multistate bank-fraud and identity-theft ring that targeted bank customers between February 2004 and November 2005. The total loss from the schemes exceeded $400,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
During a sentencing hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick also ordered Akintunde Crawford, a three-time convicted felon, to pay $109,552 in restitution and a $1,000 special assessment, and sentenced him to five years' supervised release upon completion of the prison sentence.
According to federal officials, the theft ring went after customers of Commerce Bank, PNC Bank, Wachovia Bank and M&T Bank.
Crawford provided fake IDs and counterfeit driver's licenses in the names of bank customers to the two ringleaders, who then gave them to check runners. The check runners were then able to impersonate bank customers to cash checks or withdraw money.
Crawford is also awaiting sentencing, set for Jan. 14, on a conviction in another case of identity theft. And on Feb. 20, 2001, a Montgomery County Court judge sentenced Crawford to 11 to 23 months in prison and three years' probation following his guilty plea in connection with another phony-check scheme.
- Inquirer staff
