Ohio Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Role In Nationwide Counterfeit Identification And Check Ring

CONCORD, N.H. –Omar K. Patterson, 43, of Cleveland Ohio has been sentenced in United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire to 36 months in prison for wire fraud, announced United States Attorney John P. Kacavas.  

        Between December 2009 and August 2011, Patterson travelled across the country with others cashing payroll checks at the customer service desks of Wal-Mart stores knowing the payroll checks were counterfeit.  The counterfeit checks were payable to actual persons whose identities Patterson and his co-conspirators had misappropriated.  Patterson facilitated the transactions by presenting counterfeit driver’s licenses with his photograph but listing the names of the payees of the checks on them.  The scheme involved the negotiation of hundreds of counterfeit checks and resulted in actual losses of several hundred thousand dollars.

Patterson was arrested on August 23, 2011, when the Tilton, New Hampshire, police stopped his rental vehicle for investigation as it was leaving a local retail mall. The vehicle was found to contain counterfeiting equipment, hundreds of counterfeit checks and fake identifications.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Tilton, New Hampshire Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Morse.