| Пт, Дек 28, 2007 09:17pm ona - 5985 d back | ↑↓ |
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The US Attorneys Office in the Western District of Washington (state) issued the following news release (reprinted in full below):
CHARLES W. GRIFFIN, 36, of Federal Way, Washington was sentenced today to just over seven years in prison, five years of supervised release and $241,492 in restitution for Conspiracy to Commit Identity Theft, Bank Fraud, and one count of Aggravated Identity Theft. The massive identity theft scheme used personal identifying information provided by insiders at a mortgage company and escrow firm. U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez sentenced both GRIFFIN, the ring leader, and RAYNETTE ARMSTRONG, 31, of Seattle. ARMSTRONG, worked at a Bellevue escrow firm, and provided GRIFFIN with personal and financial information on clients of the escrow firm. ARMSTRONG was sentenced to 6 months of home confinement, five years of probation and $29,519 in restitution.
Members of the conspiracy took over bank accounts and drained them, and opened credit accounts in victim names and ran up thousands of dollars in bills. In all more than $335,000 in fraud was linked to this conspiracy. In his sentencing memo Assistant United States Attorney Mark Parrent quoted one of the victims of the ring saying “these people have ruined my life and my credit for a very long time. We spent hours and hours trying to solve all of this, not counting the money and all of the frustration that my family had to go through with this ordeal.”
GRIFFIN recruited ARMSTRONG and others with access to private financial information, to provide personal and financial information that belonged to customers of mortgage companies and escrow firms. Using this information, GRIFFIN and other conspirators were able to locate the victims’ bank accounts and other personal financial information. GRIFFIN recruited two other co-conspirators to make counterfeit drivers licenses, using the names and information of the victims, but bearing the photographs of the co-conspirators. GRIFFIN worked with a number of other co-conspirators to use the fake ID’s to pose as bank account holders. The conspirators traveled to various banks in Oregon and Washington to drain bank accounts. The conspirators also opened credit accounts and racked up huge charges at large stores such as Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart. They also hit jewelry stores such as Friedlanders and International Jewelers.These sentences are the result of an eighteen month investigation by a joint task force composed of the Social Security Office of Inspector General, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), United States Probation, the Lynwood Police Department, the Samamish Police Department and the Seattle Police Department.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Norman Barbosa and Mark Parrent..
For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110.
Considering one of the last conspirators was just recently sentenced to 18 months, it appears that the total time for this group is over 24 years. The ring leader, Charles W. Griffin, age 36, will find that his life (just in the prime of his life) will dramatically change as he will have to serve almost 6 years of his 7+ year sentence.
Griffin will miss 6 Christmas's with his family and turn 40 in prison. Likewise, he will work practically everyday doing something insignificant earning 12 cents or so an hour. He will be known as a number and sleep on a metal bed with a 4 inch mattress.
His life will change - an when he emerges he will be monitored closely for 5 more years with probation officers assuming that he will commit another crime - for which they will send him back to prison. He will find it hard to obtain employment upon his release, as he will be way behind in job skills and any company that will pay well won't be interested in hiring him as he's a convicted felon.
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