Ohio Man Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud

NEW ORLEANS –  United States Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that ESTEBAN RAMIREZ, III (“RAMIREZ”), age 27, a resident of Lorain, Ohio, entered a plea of guilty January 7, 2020 to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.

According to court records, in the beginning of February 2017, Jose Fernandez Morel (“Fernandez”) devised a scheme to defraud by fraudulently representing himself as an immigration attorney. Specifically, Fernandez and other coconspirators acting at his direction, created the fictitious law firm of “Micheal (sic) Browns Immigration Attorneys” with an address of 4207 Parliament Drive, Alexandria, LA 71303. Fernandez enlisted the assistance of RAMIREZ and Heather Tolson (“Tolson”) to receive funds, totaling approximately $8,200, from various individuals who were victims of Fernandez’s scheme. RAMIREZ and Tolson agreed to wire via Western Union the fraudulently obtained funds they received to Fernandez in the Dominican Republic. Part of their agreement was that Fernandez would split these funds with RAMIREZ and Tolson.

During the scheme, Fernandez fraudulently represented himself as an attorney named “Robert McCane” and Fernandez, RAMIREZ, and Tolson represented themselves as employees with the “Micheal Browns Immigration Attorneys” law firm.  According to documents filed in federal court, Fernandez, RAMIREZ, and Tolson represented to Individual A’s family members that “McCane” was an attorney associated with the “Micheal Browns Immigration Attorneys” law firm located in Alexandria, LA that also had offices in New York and Ohio. Fernandez, RAMIREZ, and Tolson utilized various email accounts to communicate with Individual A’s family members in an effort to promote the scheme. For example, Fernandez, RAMIREZ, and Tolson created a “Legal Services Agreement” that was emailed to Individual A’s family members which referenced a $4,980.00 fee and a $980.00 initial deposit for “attorney’s fees and cost incurred by clients.” Fernandez, RAMIREZ, and Tolson obtained money from Individual A’s family members under the guise of collecting a retainer to provide legal services for Individual A and under the pretense of posting a bond to secure the release of Individual A from immigration custody. 

In addition, Tolson opened a bank account at a Chase Bank branch in Lorain, OH in order to receive fraudulently obtained payments from Individual A’s family members and Fernandez, RAMIREZ, and Tolson utilized various Chase Bank locations in Lorain, OH and Western Union agent branches to conduct cash transactions to withdraw payments from Individual A’s family members. Further, RAMIREZ and Tolson utilized Western Union locations to wire fraudulently obtained payments to Fernandez in the Dominican Republic. Finally, Fernandez, RAMIREZ, and Tolson falsely represented themselves as employees of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

On February 11, 2019, Special Agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) arrested Tolson and RAMIREZ in Ohio.  On February 11, 2019, Tolson and RAMIREZ appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Ohio who released Tolson on a $10,000 bond and with the condition that she appear in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on February 25, 2019. RAMIREZ was detained. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana and HSI are working with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Department of State to extradite Fernandez from the Dominican Republic. 

RAMIREZ faces maximum sentence of five (5) years. Upon release from prison, RAMIREZ also faces a term of supervised release up to (3) three years, and/or a fine of $250,000 or the greater of twice the gross gain to each defendant or twice the gross loss to any person under Title 18, United States Code, Section 3571.  Sentencing by U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance is scheduled for May 6, 2020.

U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser praised the work of Homeland Security Investigations. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba, Supervisor of the Financial Crimes Unit.