Skip to main content
Press Release

Rockford Man Pleads Guilty To Fraud Scheme

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois

ROCKFORD — A Rockford, Ill. man pleaded guilty today in federal court before U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala to one count of wire fraud. WILLIAM DORN, 24, who was charged in a superseding indictment along with three other men, admitted that between March 2011 and January 2012 he defrauded large retail chain stores by fraudulently acquiring tens of thousands of dollars of merchandise and returning the items for cash.

In the written plea agreement, Dorn admitted that as part of the scheme he and his co-defendants ANTHONY HARDY, 42, and CAMERON LOVE, 28, both of Rockford, and ANTHONY TAYLOR, 44, of Marietta, Georgia, created and used counterfeit checks and counterfeit identifications to purchase merchandise from large chain stores such as Wal-Mart and Farm and Fleet located in various states. After he and the others purchased merchandise from those stores, they returned the merchandise to a different store location for a cash refund. Dorn admitted he knew at the time that some of the names and addresses on the checks and identification he used, and some of the bank account information, were fictitious and some were real.

Dorn is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 9, 2013, at 2:30 p.m. Taylor, who pleaded guilty on April 15, 2013 to one count of wire fraud, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24, 2013, at 2:30 p.m. Sentencing for Cameron Love, who pleaded guilty on Feb. 28, 2013, to one count of wire fraud, is not currently scheduled.

Anthony Hardy, who was also charged in a related case, pleaded guilty on Feb. 19, 2013, to one count of wire fraud and one count of identity theft, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 4, 2013, at 2:30 p.m. In addition to Hardy admitting he participated in a wire fraud scheme with Dorn and others, Hardy admitted he unlawfully possessed the identification of another person used to purchase merchandise from the stores in the wire fraud scheme.

Wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a term of up to 3 years of supervised release following imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and mandatory restitution. The Court may also impose a fine totaling twice the loss to any victim or twice the gain to the defendants, whichever is greater. For Hardy, the charge of identity theft carries a mandatory sentence of 2 years imprisonment, which must run consecutive to any sentence on the wire fraud charge, as well as a fine of up to $250,000. The actual sentence will be determined by the United States District Court, guided by the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The guilty plea was announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Pete Zegarac, Postal Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago. The Rockford Police Department assisted in the investigation.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Love.

Plea Agreement

Updated July 27, 2015