FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC at 410-209-4885
December 13, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FORMER COLUMBIA MAN INDICTED FOR IDENTITY FRAUD SCHEME
Allegedly Used Another Person’s Identity to Open Multiple Credit Card Accounts
Baltimore, Maryland - A federal grand jury has indicted Hesman Wisteria Tall, also known as James Weldon Hunter, Jr., age 40, of Durham, North Carolina, formerly of Columbia, Maryland, in connection with an identity fraud scheme, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. The indictment was returned on December 6, 2006 and unsealed today upon the defendant’s arrest.
The seven-count indictment charges Tall with bank fraud, identity theft and aggravated identity theft. According to the indictment, Tall stole the personal information of an individual and from July through December 2005 opened new credit card accounts in that person’s name, using that individual’s social security number and other identifying information, and listing himself as an authorized account holder. The indictment alleges that Tall used his personal address on the credit card accounts he opened, so that the individual in whose name the accounts were opened would not find out about the scheme. According to court documents, Tall used the cards to obtain over $47,000 in benefits, charging cash advances, vacations to Puerto Plata in the Caribbean and Japan, and video equipment, among other things.
Tall was arrested today by U.S. Postal Inspectors at the Raleigh/Durham airport where he was apprehended enroute to Hawaii. He faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release for bank fraud; 15 years in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release for identity theft and a mandatory two years in prison, in addition to any other sentence, for aggravated identity theft. The defendant had an initial appearance today in United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, where he was ordered transported to the District of Maryland for further proceedings.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the investigative work performed by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and recognized the Transportation Security Administration, Raleigh-Durham Airport Police and the Durham Police Department for assisting with the arrest. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamera L. Fine, who is prosecuting the case.
This page last modified—December 2006