14 DAY TRIAL // A total of ten individuals were charged last week for their alleged involvement in a massive identity theft ring that operated in the Washington DC metropolitan area.
Two of the suspects were already in custody when seven others were arrested. An arrest warrant has been issued for the last suspect, 32-year-old Kevin Middleton from Charleston, South Carolina.
The other suspects are Jennifer Scruggs, 44; Rungnatee Pearson, 45; Janero Blalock, 31; Christopher Bush, 39; Adrienne Pritchett, 42; Jamille Ferguson, 31; Segale Battle, 30; Tekia Thomas, 20; and Elizabeth Monika Hunter, 19.
The defendants are from Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC.
According to the indictment, Blalock and Bush recruited women to steal personal information from the companies they worked for.
The scheme, which was running since at least January 2012, has made at least 600 victims, including overseas-based employees of the US Department of State, the US Department of Defense, and the US Agency for International Development.
The information stolen from companies such as a car rental firm, an insurer and a local dental practice was used to manufacture fraudulent identification documents that were later utilized to open credit lines on behalf of the victims.
Members of the ring are believed to have purchased items from various retailers, including a few well-known jewelry stores.
Investigators have uncovered over 280 fake identification documents.
The suspects have been charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, access device fraud, identity theft, bank fraud, access device fraud, identity theft, and aggravated identity theft.
For each of these charges, the suspects could get maximum prison sentences that range between two and thirty years.
Some of the defendants have already made their initial appearances before US Magistrate Judge John F. Anderson in Alexandria, Va.