4 Charlotte men use stolen identities to apply for loans, buy Apple products, feds say

A group of four men in Charlotte are accused of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to apply for car loans and buy expensive merchandise from Apple using stolen personal information they bought on the dark web.

Now they’re headed to prison.

A federal judge collectively sentenced the group to more than 20 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina said in a news release. Two of the men are also accused of applying for COVID-19 unemployment benefits with the stolen information.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. announced the sentences in Charlotte’s federal courthouse on Tuesday, Nov. 16. During the hearing, he called the coronavirus fraud scheme “strikingly reprehensible” and said it was important to “punish defendants who seek to profit from national disasters.”

Defense attorneys appointed to represent the men did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Thursday, Nov. 18.

Here are the individuals involved and the prison sentences they received:

▪ Jamel Johnson, 31, was sentenced to five years and 10 months after he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud, fraud on a financial institution and aggravated identity theft.

▪ David Clarke, 30, was sentenced to four years and six months after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

▪ Justin Parks, 32, was sentenced to five years and five months after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

▪ Mikael Roberts, 27, was sentenced to four years and nine months after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The alleged scheme

A grand jury indicted the men in June 2020, court filings show, and the alleged fraud dates to 2019.

Prosecutors said the group obtained the names, social security numbers, birthdays and addresses of individuals online. An attorney representing Johnson said in sentencing documents his client bought the personal identifying information on the dark web, which he reportedly learned how to do from Clarke.

The group then shared the stolen profiles with each other in text messages and on messaging sites, according to the indictment.

A fifth person not identified in court filings made fake IDs using the stolen personal information and photographs of the four men, which were then used to apply for personal and car loans at various banks, the government said. Once the money was distributed to bank accounts they controlled, prosecutors said, the group “quickly depleted the loan funds before the fraud could be detected.”

They are also accused of using the stolen personal information and fake IDs to buy iPhones and iPads from Apple.

Two of the identities the group reportedly stole included the owners of car dealerships in Charlotte, the government said. The group used that information to open bank accounts under the car dealerships’ names, prosecutors said, and then deposited the loan proceeds into those accounts.

The men are also changed the dealerships’ addresses with the U.S. Postal Service so that their mail would be forwarded elsewhere, the government said in sentencing documents.

In total, prosecutors said the group tried to get more than $1 million in fraudulent loans and merchandise.

While they were being investigated, law enforcement reportedly stumbled upon a separate scheme involving applications for unemployment benefits during the coronavirus pandemic. Johnson and Clarke, who are cousins, were accused of filing fraudulent unemployment applications in Wisconsin and Arizona and were subsequently indicted.

Johnson was accused of receiving more than $189,912 in unemployment benefits using the stolen identities of about 70 people. Prosecutors said Clarke got more than $79,000 using the names of more than 60 people.

Arrests, sentencing

Warrants for their arrests were issued the same day the indictment came down, and Johnson was the first to be taken into custody, court filings show. He was released on a $25,000 bond.

Clarke was arrested shortly thereafter and released on bond, which was revoked after he reportedly violated the conditions of his release. A judge also ordered Parks and Roberts to remain in custody pending trial after their arrests.

Court documents show Parks was the first to plead guilty in September. Johnson and Clarke followed shortly thereafter with plea agreements entered in October, and Roberts pleaded guilty at the beginning of November.

Prosecutors largely pinned the fraud on Johnson and Clarke in sentencing documents. They said the pair, combined with Parks, continued the scheme even after the pandemic hit and “while most of Charlotte was on lock-down.”

According to court filings, Johnson and Clarke received a larger share of the money, obtained the stolen personal information and fake IDs, applied for the loans and set up the fake bank accounts for the car dealerships.

Parks and Roberts, meanwhile, acted as go-betweens with the banks, where prosecutors said they used fake IDs to get the loans.

Defense attorneys representing Parks and Roberts referenced their relatively minor roles in requests for lesser sentences.

“Mr. Roberts is guilty of the offense of which he was convicted because he aided Mr. Johnson in committing that crime,” Roberts’ attorney said in court documents. “Nonetheless, he did so without expecting substantial financial benefit, and he received very little.”

Parks asked the court if he could serve his sentence at a facility that offers an HVAC occupational training program and cited troubling conditions at the Mecklenburg County Jail during the pandemic, saying he spent several months in an isolated unit with a COVID-19 outbreak.

“In the last year, Mr. Parks has engaged in self-reflection, and taken steps towards self-improvement,” his attorney said. “He is changing and evolving as a human being and ready to move forward towards a more positive path.”

Lawyers representing Johnson, meanwhile, called him “intellectually gifted” with no criminal record. They said he learned how to invest in the stock market in college and that he became addicted to “the rush for quick money,” which contributed to him going into debt and eventually dropping out.

His attorneys blamed much of the criminal conduct on his cousin Clarke.

“Jamel stands ready to pay his debt to society and while remaining steadfast in his commitment to traveling this necessary journey to living a life of integrity, a sound work ethic, healthy lifestyle choices, loyalty to family, and setting a positive example for his legacy,” Johnson’s lawyers said in court filings.

But prosecutors lambasted the attempt to downplay Johnson’s part in the fraud, saying he “played a key role” and deserved a lengthy prison sentence as a result.

Johnson ultimately received the longest prison sentence out of the four men.

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