Houston Couple Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Terms for Fraudulent Schemes

HOUSTON – Gerard Montez-Easiley, 46, and Stacey Lair Lee-Easiley, 35, have been ordered to prison following their convictions in two corporate fraud schemes, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. The pleaded guilty to two separate fraud schemes which involved fraudulently obtaining credit in the names of various businesses, one of which was perpetrated while they were awaiting sentencing in the other.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt sentenced Montez-Easiley and Montez-Easiley to respective terms of 188 and 135 months in federal prison.

In November 2012, the married couple was convicted of conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. That  scheme involved fraudulently obtaining credit on behalf of entities whose registration to conduct business in the State of Texas had been suspended or terminated (dormant entities). Although they had no legitimate relationship with the dormant entities, the defendants used fraudulent documents such as financial reports, among other means to falsely bolster the creditworthiness of the dormant entities. They also fraudulently obtained credit from banks, automobile dealerships and retailers in the dormant entities’ names.  Using that fraudulently-obtained credit, the defendants obtained six luxury automobiles and more than $39,000 in computer equipment.

In June 2014, Montez-Easiley and Lee-Easiley also pleaded guilty to engaging in a separate fraud scheme while they were awaiting sentencing in the previous case. In that second scheme, the pair conspired with others to fraudulently obtain credit in the names of Black Pearl Media Group Inc. and Leeison Inc. In order to bolster the fraudulent credit applications of those entities, the defendants again used various fraudulent documents, including purported audited financial statements which had been plagiarized from the publicly-available financial statements of other companies. The defendants obtained four luxury cars and were responsible for more than $300,000 spent on credit cards that were fraudulently obtained in the name of Black Pearl Media Group.

In today’s consolidated sentencing, Judge Hoyt sentenced the defendants for their roles in both fraud schemes. Because they committed the second fraud scheme while released on bail in their initial case, they each faced additional prison time. Judge Hoyt further ordered Montez-Easiley and Lee-Easiley to pay restitution of $761,794.09 and $750,794.09, respectively.

The charges are the result of the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Smith is prosecuting the case.