Scott Daugherty reports:
They drove up and down the East Coast trying to break into Wells Fargo mortgage offices, according to court documents.
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland. Thirteen locations in all.
Jeffrey “Lef” Washington and his crew weren’t interested in cash, though. The money would come later.
They wanted the personal information kept in the offices’ files.
“This was no ordinary counterfeit check fraud scheme, but an extensive and elaborate fraud that left an impact on hundreds of individuals and institutions,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Samuels wrote in court documents, noting that more than 1,800 files were stolen during the burglaries.
Defense attorney Mark Del Duca said only 29 of the stolen identities were actually used during the conspiracy and asked for leniency.
Read more on The Virginian-Pilot.
In a follow-up report, Daugherty reports that the prosecutors got their wish and Washington was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison.