Dallas Woman Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison for Structuring Transactions

DALLAS — Linda Nell Fantroy, 65, of Dallas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey to 18 months in federal prison, following her guilty plea in December 2015 to one count of structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Fantroy was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on June 6, 2016.

The law requires any financial institution that engages with a customer in a currency transaction, such as a deposit or withdrawal, of more than $10,000, to report the transaction to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  According to the factual resume filed in the case, from January 2010 to late October 2013, Fantroy structured currency deposits to avoid the $10,000 currency reporting requirements.  During this time, she made approximately 111 cash deposits totaling more than $580,000.  Each of those deposits was made with the intent to avoid the currency reporting requirements, and she violated this law as part of a pattern of illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period.

In a related civil action filed in the Northern District of Texas (3:14-CV-3265) , Senior U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish entered a final judgment of forfeiture in January 2015, noting the government had probable cause to seize seven properties in the Dallas metroplex area that Fantroy owned. 

According to the government’s Verified Complaint for Forfeiture in rem, filed in September 2014, each month, Fantroy, who was employed by the Dallas Independent School District (DISD), received direct payroll deposits from DISD and from the Texas Comptroller Teacher Retirement System of Texas.  From January 2007 through November 2009, Fantroy had a total of 10 deposits totaling $6,270 into her Credit Union of Texas accounts.

However, beginning in December 2009, the currency deposits into Fantroy’s accounts increased dramatically.  In fact, from December 2009 to August 31, 2013, more than $440,000 in currency, the source of which was unknown, was deposited into Fantroy’s accounts in 94 separate transactions, and each of those deposits was under the $10,000.01 Currency Transaction Report reporting threshold.  The majority of structured funds deposited into her accounts during this time frame were used to purchase the seven above-mentioned residential properties that she was required to forfeit to the government.  

IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Poe was in charge of the prosecution.

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