anchorage man indicted by federal grand jury for shipping and transporting counterfeit monetary instruments into the united states
Anchorage, Alaska – Acting United States Attorney Steven E. Skrocki announced today that Bradley J. Blodgett, a resident of Anchorage, Alaska, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Anchorage on charges of passing within the United States, and causing to be used in interstate and foreign commerce to transport and ship fictitious obligations to and through the United States, representing the documents to be genuine financial instruments, in violation of federal law.
The two-count indictment named Blodgett, age 33, as the sole defendant.
According to the indictment, Blodgett answered an advertisement on Craigslist seeking assistance for customer service. He was told he was assisting a company produce payroll documents. Blodgett was hired by a person in Nigeria to print counterfeit checks and mail them to various recipients throughout the United States. A person known by Blodgett as Werner would contact him via email, instant message, or phone text and tell him what account numbers to use, and who to make the checks out to. Later, Blodgett accepted a package of counterfeit monetary instruments from Nigeria, and was instructed to distribute these documents to persons also recruited through Craigslist. Upon receipt, these persons would cash the monetary instruments, keeping for themselves a predetermined portion of the proceeds, and then wire the remaining amount to Blodgett. After taking a predetermined amount for himself, Blodgett would wire the remainder to Nigeria.
Assistant United States Attorney Crandon Randell, who presented the case to the grand jury, indicated that the law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 25 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
The Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
