Court Sends Convicted Identity Thief Back To Prison For 11 Years

GREENVILLE - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that today in federal court Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard sentenced JOKWAN LAMAR HARVEY, 32, of Magnolia, to serve a total of 132 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, on charges of Aggravated Identity Theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A, and Use of Unauthorized Access Devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(2), and based on the revocation of a term of supervised release on a prior charge of Aggravated Identity Theft.   HARVEY was also ordered to pay $51,250.35 to various victims of his fraud as restitution. 

The evidence showed that in 2012, shortly after being released from prison on a prior charge of Aggravated Identity Theft, and while on supervised release, HARVEY engaged in a scheme to benefit from the fraudulent use of debit and credit card accounts.  Evidence presented at the sentencing hearing demonstrated that HARVEY used stolen personal information to make and attempt to make applications for dozens of credit card accounts.  HARVEY then had these cards mailed to various “mail drop” locations where he acquired them from associates.  Evidence further showed that HARVEYused the fraudulent credit cards to make various purchases for the benefit of himself and others. 

Evidence presented at the sentencing hearing showed that after being arrested and held in the Duplin County Jail, HARVEY passed an encoded message to his sister, instructing her to destroy one of the computers that he used to commit the fraud. Kitrina Diane Rhodes, previously sentenced for her role in assisting HARVEY, admitted to throwing the computer in a dumpster for her brother.  When investigators eventually recovered HARVEY’s laptop, they analyzed the contents and found further stolen account numbers and other evidence of the fraud.  At sentencing the court found that the total losses intended by HARVEY exceeded $200,000. The court also found that HARVEY’s crime involved more than 20 victims, including individuals and banks.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the United States Secret Service, with the assistance of the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office and the Warsaw Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney William M. Gilmore represented the United States.