Leader of Fraud Scheme Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Creating and Using Counterfeit Checks to Buy Merchandise and Gift Cards

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Sheree Lanet Brown, age 36, of Washington, D.C., today to 42 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for being the leader of a scheme to defraud Target by using counterfeit checks to purchase over $485,000 in gift cards and merchandise.  Judge Chasanow also entered an order requiring Brown to forfeit and pay restitution of $485,000.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge James Murray of the United States Secret Service - Washington Field Office.

According to her plea, from September 2011 to November 2013, Brown conspired with Ebony Ruffin, Nichelle Rogers, and others to use counterfeit personal checks in various aliases and false identifications to fraudulently obtain Visa gift cards and other merchandise from Target stores in Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.  Brown was the leader of the conspiracy, as she created and printed the counterfeit checks, which she used to purchase Visa gift cards and merchandise from Target.  Brown kept the amount of the fraudulent checks below $300, to avoid triggering the additional scrutiny required by Target for checks over that amount. Brown also gave counterfeit checks to Ruffin and Rogers in exchange for Visa gift cards and merchandise they fraudulently obtained by using the counterfeit checks.  Brown and her co-conspirators used the gift cards to purchase gift cards and merchandise from other retailers, such as Nordstrom, later returning the merchandise for cash. Brown and her co-conspirators presented over 1,400 counterfeit checks as payment for merchandise and gift cards, resulting in a total loss to Target of at least $485,000.

For example, from October 6 through October 18, 2013, Brown and a co-conspirator presented false identification and nine counterfeit checks, totaling $2,589.85, at Target stores in Frederick, Hagerstown and Aberdeen, Maryland and in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, to purchase a total of 16 Visa gift cards and other merchandise.  On October 10, 2013, Brown redeemed three of the fraudulently obtained Visa gift cards at a Nordstrom store in Columbia, Maryland, to purchase three Nordstrom gift cards totaling $300.  Brown later returned the purchased merchandise at Nordstrom for cash.

Ebony Nicole Ruffin, age 29, of District Heights, Maryland, and Nichelle Nicole Rogers, age 28, of Washington, D.C., previously pleaded guilty to their participation in the scheme and were sentenced to 27 months in prison and 30 months in prison, respectively.  Ruffin was also ordered to pay restitution of $485,000.

Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Since the inception of FFETF in November 2009, the Justice Department has filed more than 12,841 financial fraud cases against nearly 18,737 defendants including nearly 3,500 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the U.S. Secret Service for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly O'Connell Hayes and Thomas P. Windom, who prosecuted the case.