Rockford Man Sentenced To 65 Months In Federal Prison For Wire Fraud And Identity Theft

ROCKFORD — A Rockford, Ill. man was sentenced today in federal court by U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala for wire fraud and identity theft. ANTHONY HARDY, 42, was sentenced to 65 months in federal prison, in addition to 5 years of supervised release following his release from prison, and ordered to pay restitution of $212,625.13. Hardy guilty to the charges on Feb. 19, 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, Hardy 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 Hardy and the others purchased merchandise from those stores, they returned the merchandise to a different store location for a cash refund. Hardy 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. Hardy also admitted in the plea agreement that he unlawfully possessed and used the Social Security Number of another person as part of his fraud scheme to purchase merchandise from the large chain stores.

Three other individuals have been charged in a separate indictment for their roles in the wire fraud scheme with Hardy: William Dorn, 24, and Cameron Love, 28, both of Rockford, Ill., and Anthony Taylor, 44, of Marietta, Ga., each of whom have pled guilty to one count of wire fraud.

The sentencing 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.