A Pensacola man has been sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for his role in a bank fraud scheme involving stolen identities, fraudulent U.S. passport cards and fraudulent checks.
Vontavius Jamaal Bradley, 23, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, use of a false passport and aggravated identity theft. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida announced his sentence Sept. 29.
Federal prosecutors said Bradley worked with Elizabeth Ann Rogers, Donny Bernard Ross and others in a scheme targeting banks and credit unions in the Pensacola area using personal information belonging to real people.
Rogers and Ross have also pleaded guilty to the same three federal charges and were awaiting sentencing before U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers when Bradley’s sentence was announced.
Stolen Identities Were Used to Open Financial Accounts
According to federal prosecutors, Bradley and his co-defendants obtained personal identifying information belonging to real people and used it without their knowledge or authorization.
The conspirators used those stolen identities to open accounts at multiple banks and credit unions in the Pensacola area. Once the accounts were established, prosecutors said they were used to cash stolen, altered or counterfeit checks.
The proceeds from those fraudulent transactions were divided among the participants in the scheme.
Bradley Supplied False Passport Cards and Fraudulent Checks
Prosecutors identified Bradley as a source of some of the documents used by the group. The sentencing announcement says he obtained and provided fraudulent identification documents to his accomplices, including false U.S. passport cards.
Bradley also provided fraudulent checks used in the transactions, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service was one of the agencies that investigated the case. Ryan McSeveney, special agent in charge of the agency’s Miami Field Office, said protecting the integrity of U.S. passports and visas is central to the Diplomatic Security Service’s mission.
The Three Defendants Were Indicted Together in March
The original federal announcement identified Bradley, Rogers and Ross as the three defendants indicted by a federal grand jury in March.
All three appeared for arraignment March 18 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zachary C. Bolitho in Pensacola. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers.
The Sentence Included $18,264 in Restitution
In addition to the 42-month prison term, Bradley was ordered to pay $18,264 in restitution to financial-institution and identity-theft victims.
The investigation was conducted jointly by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia H. Forbes prosecuted the case.
Unknown Accounts Can Be a Sign That an Identity Has Been Used
IdentityTheft.gov, the Federal Trade Commission’s identity-theft recovery service, tells people who discover fraudulent accounts to contact the company’s fraud department and ask that the unauthorized account be closed or frozen.
The FTC also recommends changing compromised passwords and PINs, obtaining and reviewing credit reports and reporting the identity theft through IdentityTheft.gov to create an FTC Identity Theft Report and recovery plan.
Someone who discovers a checking account opened in their name can also obtain a ChexSystems report and contact each financial institution where an unauthorized account appears. IdentityTheft.gov specifically advises asking those institutions to close accounts that were opened without permission.
A credit freeze can provide another layer of protection against new-account fraud. The FTC says freezes are free and can make it harder for an identity thief to open additional credit accounts using stolen personal information.