WASHINGTON - Kimberly Hatton, 41, and Peeair Bassil, 42, both of Washington, D.C., entered pre-Indictment guilty pleas today to Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Access Devices, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor, District of Columbia Inspector General Charles Willoughby, Gregory Campbell, Inspector in Charge, Washington Division, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Jeffrey Irvine, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, and D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced.

The pleas were entered before the Honorable Henry H. Kennedy, Jr., U.S. District Court Judge. Hatton and Bassil each face a possible statutory sentence of up to 15 years of incarceration, a $250,000 fine, an order of restitution, and 3 years of supervised release. Under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, each defendant faces a likely sentence of up to 6 months of incarceration. Their sentencing dates have not yet been set.

According to information presented to the court by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Schornstein, beginning in 2005, three unindicted co-conspirators and other individuals conspired together to steal the identifying information of numerous people, use that information to illegally obtain credit accounts, and use those accounts to acquire merchandise, pay for services, and to pay for D.C. parking tickets. In connection with the scheme, one of the unindicted co-conspirators enlisted the defendants, Kimberly Hatton and Peeair Bassil, to permit their District of Columbia residential addresses to be used for the receipt of packages shipped from various third-party vendors. The packages contained assorted merchandise purchased with fraudulent credit accounts. Between approximately July 7, 2006 and May 8, 2007, Kimberly Hatton, while aiding and abetting the unindicted co-conspirators, effected transactions to obtain merchandise and services valued at approximately $1,589.67. Between approximately January 16, 2008 and February 12, 2008, Peeair Bassil, while aiding and abetting the unindicted co-conspirators effected transactions to receive merchandise valued at approximately $6,953.28.

In announcing the guilty pleas, U.S. Attorney Taylor, D.C. Inspector General Charles Willoughby, Postal Inspector in Charge Campbell, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Irvine, and MPD Police Chief Lanier commended the work of D.C. Office of Inspector General Special Agent Bernadette Todd Atwater, Postal Inspector Dean Davis, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Chris Macomber, and MPD Detective Michael Pavero as well as the staff of the U.S. Attorney's Office, including Legal Assistant Lisa Robinson. They also commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Schornstein who is prosecuting the cases.