Rochester Couple Pleads Guilty In Fraud Scheme

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051

ROCHESTER, N.Y.- Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced that Kassandra Whylly, 21, and Thomas Porter, Jr., 20, both of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty to financial institution fraud before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.  The charges carry a maximum sentence 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Rossi, who is handling the case, stated that between April 2016 and November 2016, the defendants executed an ongoing scheme to defraud the ESL Federal Credit Union by making false deposits into ATM machines and fraudulently withdrawing cash based upon the false deposits. Over the course of several months, Whylly and Porter actively recruited ESL members to participate in more than 100 separate fraudulent transactions, through which the defendants stole a combined sum of more than $35,000. 

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen. 

Whylly is scheduled to be sentenced on August 2, 2017, before Judge Wolford. Porter will be sentenced on August 3, 2017.