FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACTAUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885

JUNE 28, 2007

THREE MEMBERS OF BALTIMORE IDENTITY THEFT RING INDICTED BY FEDERAL JURY

Used Stolen Credit Information to Purchase $504,350 in Merchandise and Three Cars in Four Months

Baltimore, Maryland - A federal grand jury indicted Nekia Ishawn Hunter, age 28; Lavon Caldwell, age 25; and Faye Marie Jones, age 51; all of Baltimore, today for conspiring to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft arising from a scheme to use stolen personal identity information to fraudulently purchase merchandise and cars, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to the 11-count indictment, from August to December 2006, the defendants purchased credit reports stolen from a Baltimore mortgage company containing the names, social security numbers and other personal identification information of persons who had applied for mortgages. Hunter allegedly produced fraudulent driver’s licenses in the names of the individuals on the credit reports, placed photos of her conspirators on the fraudulent driver’s licenses, and then gave the driver’s licenses to her conspirators to use to fraudulently procure credit accounts from banks and retail stores to purchase merchandise and cars. The banks and stores were located throughout the greater Baltimore and Washington D.C. areas. The defendants accompanied one another to the retail stores to load the purchased goods into a truck and act as look-outs. They sold the merchandise for cash and split the proceeds. The indictment further alleges that Caldwell and his conspirators fraudulently used two of the victims’ identities to finance the purchase of a Mercedes Benz and BMW and the lease of a BMW from Baltimore car dealerships. The scheme involved $504,350 worth of merchandise and vehicles.

The defendants face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release for the bank fraud conspiracy and a mandatory consecutive sentence of 2 years in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release on the first count of aggravated identity theft and a potential two year sentence on each further count of aggravated identity theft.

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 praised the U.S. Secret Service Federal Fraud Task Force and the Baltimore County Police Department for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Tonya Kelly Kowitz and Paul E. Budlow, who are prosecuting the case.