Press Release
Contact:
NILS R. KESSLER
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
PHONE: (616) 456-2406
DEFENDANT NICHOLAS WOODHAMS
April 6, 2009 - GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – Nicholas Woodhams, 23, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell to mail fraud and money laundering charges, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today. Mr. Davis was joined in the announcement by Inspector in Charge Joseph Pirone, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Special Agent in Charge Maurice Aouate, IRS Criminal Investigation Division (CID).
According to the Felony Information, Woodhams fraudulently obtained “iPod” portable music players from Apple Computer, Inc., and sold them over the Internet. Through trial and error, Woodhams was able to guess the serial numbers of iPods still under warranty. He then repeatedly entered these serial numbers into Apple’s web-based warranty return program, pretending each time to be a customer with a broken iPod. Between March 2006 and October 2007, Woodhams caused Apple to ship more than 9,000 replacement units to a post office box through this deception. Woodhams then advertised and sold the units through a website for $49 apiece, a fraction of their retail value. In addition to this mail fraud scheme, Woodhams violated federal money laundering laws by wiring $200,000 of his criminally-derived proceeds from a financial institution in Michigan to a brokerage account in Missouri.
Woodhams faces a potential sentence of up to thirty years’ imprisonment as a result of these convictions, and will be required to pay restitution to Apple Computer, Inc. As part of the plea agreement, Woodhams will forfeit property, including a home in Portage, Michigan, an Audi S4 sedan, an Ariel “Atom 2" racing car, a Honda motorcycle, six computers, and more than $570,000 in U.S. currency.
U.S. Attorney Davis commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division for their thorough investigation. This case is being prosecuted on behalf of the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils R. Kessler.
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