Conspirator Sentenced in Scheme to Use Stolen Identities to Withdraw Money from Victims’ Bank Accounts and Obtain Credit

Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. sentenced Keith Parker, age 40, of Bladensburg, Maryland to 67 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiring to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme to use stolen identification information to withdraw money from victims’ bank accounts and obtain credit. Judge Williams also ordered Parker to pay restitution of $100,459.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Postal Inspector in Charge Gary R. Barksdale of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division.

“Whenever someone uses the U.S. postal system in furtherance of fraudulent activities, Postal Inspectors will find them and bring them to justice,” said Inspector in Charge Gary R. Barksdale, U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division. “Today’s sentencing reaffirms our commitment to keep the mail safe for our customers.”

According to his plea agreement, from June 2008 to December 2009, Parker and others stole identification information of other individuals in order to withdraw money from the victims’ bank accounts and secure credit in their names. Parker and co-defendant Ibraheem Majekodunmi requested that the U.S. Postal Service hold victims’ mail, which they would retrieve, sometimes using fake identification cards in the victims’ names. Other times, co-defendant Kim Henson stole checks from mailboxes in Prince George’s County and elsewhere; and Majekodunmi stole victims’ identification information with the help of co-conspirators employed by banks where victims maintained accounts.

Parker, Majekodunmi, Henson, Lawrence Green and other defendants withdrew money from the victims’ bank accounts. Green and Majekodumni also used the stolen identification information to obtain credit in the names of the victims, and to create new bank accounts in the victims’ names to deposit and then use the stolen funds. Parker and Majekodunmi also paid third parties to use their bank accounts to deposit stolen funds, and then Parker and Green withdrew cash from those accounts.

The defendants shared the stolen funds which totaled between $200,000 and $400,000.

On May 13, 2009, postal inspectors executed a search warrant at Parker’s home and car, and recovered more than five counterfeit Maryland driver’s licenses in the names of victims, but with a photo of Parker or another conspirator. Parker admitted that his involvement in the scheme resulted in a total intended loss of at least $303,000 from approximately 31 victims.

All six defendants have pleaded guilty to their participation in the scheme. Lawrence Irvin Green, age 47, of Brentwood, Maryland, was sentenced to six years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Kim Henson, age 47, of Washington, D.C. on October 26; Joann Kinard, age 59, of Brentwood, Maryland, on November 1; Ibraheem Majekodunmi, age 27, of Hyattsville, Maryland on November 16; and Princess Smith, age 29, of Trenton, New Jersey, on October 26, all in 2012.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant United States Attorney Robert K. Hur, who prosecuted the case.