NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
Julia C. Dudley United States Attorney Brian McGinn Public Affairs Specialist |
BB&T Building 310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906 Roanoke, Virginia 24011 (540) 857-2974 FAX (540) 857-2179 |
June 29, 2009
NARROWS WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO MAIL, WIRE, ACCESS DEVICE FRAUDS
Jill Dunford Faces Significant Prison Time, Fines
United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley announced today that Jill Abel Dunford, age 47, of Narrows, Virginia pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke to charges related to a scheme in which she stole the identities of two people.
A federal Grand Jury returned a 16-count indictment against Dunford on April 23, 2009. The grand jury charged the defendant with two counts of mail fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, two counts of access device fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
Today in District Court, Dunford pled guilty to one count of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of access device fraud. The maximum penalty faced by the defendant is a term of imprisonment of up to 30 years and/or a fine of up to $750,000.
Dunford admitted today that she participated in an identity theft scheme from April 2007 through September 2007 in which she used the personal identifiers of her employer and her employer’s daughter to obtain credit card accounts. The defendant did this without the victims’ authorization.
Dunford’s employment allowed her to have access to the name, social security number and other information for both her employer and their daughter. The defendant falsely opened one credit card account for both her employer and her employer’s daughter. In all, the defendant charged a total of $26,877.17 to the two credit cards. The charges included purchases from retail stores, as well as cash withdrawals from ATM machines throughout the Western District of Virginia.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 21, 2009. The defendant remains free on the terms of a personal recognizance bond issued at her initial appearance.
The investigation of the case was conducted by United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorney Charlene R. Day is prosecuting the case for the United States.