Myrtle Beach Man Enters Guilty Plea in Federal Court on Fraud Charges

Contact Person: Lance Crick (864) 282-2100

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Howard Dillon, age 49, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, pled guilty on Monday in federal court in Florence, to Conspiracy to Manufacture and Pass Counterfeit Securities, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.  United States District Judge R. Bryan Harwell of Florence accepted the plea and will impose sentence after he has reviewed the presentence report which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
 
The evidence presented at the guilty plea hearing established that during the period from August 2015 through January of 2016, Dillon and others were involved in a conspiracy to manufacture and pass counterfeit securities (checks) of organizations.

The co-conspirators would make counterfeit checks using genuine bank account and routing numbers they obtained from checks they stole out of mailboxes in Horry and Georgetown Counties.

The defendants would then use fraudulent driver's licenses bearing their photographs but in other persons' names which matched the names on the counterfeit checks, to pass these counterfeit checks at various businesses.

The defendants would use the checks to purchase merchandise at one store, then they would go to another store in the same chain and exchange the merchandise for cash.

Ms. Drake stated the maximum penalty the defendants can receive is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for 5 years, plus a special assessment of $100.

The case was investigated by agents of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorney Brad Parham of the Florence office handled the case.

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