Washington, D.C., Man Sentenced to 96 Months for Funding Lavish Parties Through Counterfeit Checks

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Austin Davidson, 32, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 96 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for using a counterfeit business check scheme to throw lavish house parties that caused more than $225,000 in losses to area victims.

            Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and David E. Beach, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Liam O’Grady. Davidson pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft on Dec. 20, 2011.

            In addition, Davidson was ordered to pay $227,281 in restitution to the victims in this case.

            “Austin Davidson wanted to live the high life – but he didn’t want to pay for it,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “He was very smart, and very good at what he did; in many ways a modern-day Frank Abagnale, Jr. But each scam required that he get away in the nick of time, and the Secret Service ultimately caught up with him. Now he’ll spend eight years in prison paying for his crimes.”

            According to court documents, Davidson led a conspiracy that defrauded 49 local businesses and individuals of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Using a personal computer and printer, he and others produced counterfeit checks in the names of prominent financial institutions, including The Carlyle Group and JPMorgan Chase. Posing as an employee of these companies, Davidson used the counterfeit checks to rent numerous properties from homeowners in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.  After renting these homes, Davidson and his co-conspirators would live in them and often use them to throw extravagant, raucous parties for their friends. 

            Again posing as wealthy a businessman, Davidson purchased thousands of dollars of catered food and limousine services for his parties.  In some instances, Davidson and others would steal personal belongings from the rented homes and cause significant damage to furniture and property.  By the time the counterfeit checks were rejected, Davidson and his co-conspirators had consumed the catered food and vacated the properties.  Davidson and his co-conspirators also stole personal checks from some homeowners, which they later used to pay for other services and merchandise, including a Mercedes Benz. 

            In total, Davidson’s conspiracy caused more than $225,000 in actual losses and more than $320,000 in intended losses during the course of the five-month scheme. According to court records, Davidson admitted to law enforcement that, had he not been arrested on Dec. 9, 2011, his crimes would have continued.  In fact, he planned to use one of his fraudulent home rentals to host a party celebrating the championship boxing match between Amir Khan and Lamont Peterson that was being held the following evening at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C.  At sentencing, the court took into consideration that Davidson has been committing similar counterfeit check and identity theft offenses since he was 17 years old.            

            This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service.  Assistant United States Attorney Chad Golder prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.

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