FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
April 6, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 2:10-CR-0098 EJG

                SACRAMENTO, Calif. – United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Ricky Lamont Flemings, 28, of Antelope, California, pleaded guilty today to two counts of Mail Fraud before United States District Judge Edward J. Garcia.
 
                This case is the product of an extensive/joint investigation by the Placer County Sheriff’s Department and the United States Secret Service.   Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon is prosecuting the case.

                According to court documents, Flemings engaged in a complex and long-running scheme to deceive Experian and the other credit reporting agencies by exploiting provisions in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a statute intended to provide consumer protections to individuals.  Beginning no later than on or about October 1, 2005, and continuing through on or about November 12, 2009, Flemings contacted Experian on multiple occasions, falsely reporting that he was the victim of identity theft.  Flemings then demanded that entries be removed from his credit report.  In fact, as he well knew, many of these entries were proper and were the result of his having purchased items on credit.

                In total, as a result of Flemings’s false statements, Experian blocked a total of 162 inquiries and 40 trade lines from his credit report.  Once these trade lines and inquiries were blocked, Flemings then sought further extensions of credit, relying on the fact that creditors would be unable to access the fraudulently blocked entries.  As a result, Flemings appeared to be a better credit risk than he actually was.
 
                For instance, between July 9, 2009, and September 5, 2009, Flemings received financing from Schools Financial Credit Union (SFCU), a federally insured credit union, for the purchase of a 2005 Lincoln Navigator and a 2006 Monterey boat.  The loans to purchase these two items were approved after SFCU examined a credit report for Flemings that did not include fraudulently blocked entries.  The fraudulently blocked entries were material to SFCU because had these entries been present on the credit report, Schools Financial Credit Union would not have extended the loans.

                Shortly after receiving credit for the Lincoln and boat, Flemings contacted Experian and reported that the entry on his credit report related to these two items was fraudulent and should be removed.  On September 14, 2009, he contacted Experian and reported that the SFCU entry related to the 2005 Lincoln Navigator was the result of fraud and should be blocked.  On October 8, 2009, he contacted Experian and reported that the entry on his credit report related to the boat was the result of fraud and should be blocked.

                Flemings is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Garcia on July 6, 2012, at 10:00 a.m.  The maximum statutory penalty for each violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 is up to 30 years imprisonment, a fine of $1,000,000, and a five-year term of supervised release.  The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

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