Niagara Falls woman sentenced for her role in debt collection scheme

BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Erica Lounsberry, 37, of Niagara Falls, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, was sentenced to serve 21 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright, who handled the case, stated that between January 2014 and February 2017, Lounsberry conspired with others in the activities of supposed debt collection agencies, which operated under various names, including Lakeside Mediations, Lincoln Mediation, Valentine Legal Mediation, First Point Mediation, State Filing and Legal Services, and Elite Services. As a manager for these operations, Lounsberry directed and trained other employees, including those who placed calls to “debtors,” those who posed as attorneys during the calls, and those who provided the “debtors” with payment instructions. Lounsberry and the employees she managed placed telephone calls to thousands of “debtors” throughout the United States, and used various fraudulent tactics and misrepresentations to induce the “debtors” to make payments, including using false identities, making false threats that debtors would be arrested, and making false claims that criminal charges would be filed against the “debtors.” The “debtors” were eventually directed to employees posing as attorneys, and were provided with payment instructions, supposedly to settle their outstanding debts. Lounsberry and others routinely collected money from “debtors” from whom they had already collected payment, deemed to be “easy targets.” “Debtors” were instructed to make payment through various means, including MoneyGram payments, bank wire transfers, and debit/credit card payments. Between February 2015, and December 2016, Lounsberry and those she managed collected approximately $2,103,105.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special-Agent-in-Charge Erin Keegan; the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Thomas Fattorusso; the United States Postal Service Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector-in-Charge Ketty Larco-Ward; and the New York State, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Inspector General Catherine Lucy Lang.

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