ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ill. — Four St. Clair County residents were indicted on federal fraud charges Friday.
Michael Henderson, 36, of Fairview Heights; Kyetia Hines, 37, of Belleville; Antoinette Z. Davis, 23, of Cahokia; and Jasmine Davison, 27, of Cahokia, are accused of devising and participating in a scheme to defraud Sprint stores in the Metro East using stolen identities, according to a press release from the United States Attorney of the Southern District of Illinois.
According to the indictment, the four people operated a fraud scheme from Oct. 2015 to May 2018 in St. Clair and Madison counties as well as other areas. The scheme involved them setting up new accounts for cellular service using the name and social security numbers of other people.
These accounts were then used to acquire new cellphones. Instead of using the phones, the four suspects allegedly sold them to cellphone retail stores for money, the release said.
According to the indictment, three of the suspects acquired up to four phones at a time, immediately canceling the accounts once the phones were acquired.
Tamecia Buckley, 37 of Cahokia, the alleged ring leader of the scheme, was charged in July, separately from the other suspects. Buckley has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft and other charges, the release said.
She is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 20.
Henderson and Davis both plead not guilty to their charges in a federal district court Thursday. Hines is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 10 while Davis has not yet been arrested.
Each of the suspects has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, the release said. Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory sentence of two years, which must run consecutively to any other sentence imposed.
