Freeport Man Sentenced To 29 Months In Federal Prison For Wire Fraud

ROCKFORD — A Freeport, Ill. man was sentenced today in federal court for wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala sentenced ANTHONY TAYLOR, 44, to 29 months in federal prison, in addition to 3 years of supervised release following his release from prison, and ordered Taylor to pay restitution of $212,542.44

Taylor pled guilty to the charge on April 15, 2013, admitting that between mid-2010 and January 2012 he defrauded large retail chain stores by fraudulently acquiring tens of thousands of dollars of merchandise and returning the items for cash. In the written plea agreement, Taylor admitted that as part of the scheme he and other individuals created and used counterfeit checks and counterfeit identifications to purchase merchandise from large chain stores such as Wal-Mart and Farm and Fleet located in various states. After Taylor and the others purchased merchandise from those stores, they returned the merchandise to a different store location for a cash refund. Taylor admitted he knew at the time that some of the names and addresses on the checks and identification he used, and some of the bank account information, were fictitious and some were real.

Three other individuals have been charged for their roles in the wire fraud scheme with Taylor:

ANTHONY HARDY, 42, of Rockford, pled guilty on Feb. 19, 2013, to one count of wire fraud and one count of identity theft, and was sentenced on June 4, 2013, to 65 months in prison, 5 years of supervised release following imprisonment, and ordered to pay restitution of $212,542.44.

CAMERON LOVE, 28, of Rockford, pled guilty on Feb. 28, 2013, to one count of wire fraud, and was sentenced on June 28, 2013, to 15 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release following imprisonment, and ordered to pay restitution of $212,542.44.

WILLIAM DORN, 25, also of Rockford, pled guilty on May 30, 2013, to one count of wire fraud. Dorn is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 9, 2013 at 2:30 p.m.

The sentencing today was announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Pete Zegarac, Postal Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago. The Rockford Police Department and Freeport Police Department assisted in the investigation.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Love.