Another scheme involving insider breaches comes to light in Baltimore. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland reports:
Ringleader Derrick Hill, age 52, and his girlfriend Renee Cabell, age 51, both of Woodlawn, Maryland, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to their plea agreements, from August to October, 2009, Hill and Cabell conspired with their co-defendants John Coffey and Tawney King to negotiate counterfeit checks drawn on victim bank accounts.
Hill received checks which had been designated for destruction by banks and stolen before they could be destroyed. He also received personal identity information and personal financial information from King who was employed by Highlandtown Community Health Center. According to King’s plea agreement, King accessed patient files and provided Hill with the patient identifying information either directly or through her friend Cabell. Hill used this information to create counterfeit checks using victim’s financial account information and the identity information of other victims. He also obtained counterfeit identification cards and personally altered genuine Maryland driver’s licenses so that they displayed victim identity information but the photograph of one of several co-conspirators, including Coffey.
Hill recruited Coffey to help him cash the checks at banks and retail establishments. If the counterfeit checks were cashed at a retail store, Hill told his co-conspirators what to buy. Proceeds, whether cash or merchandise, were given to Hill, who paid his co-conspirators a small percentage for each successful transaction.
Additionally, Cabell provided Hill with the names and identity information of doctors who applied for fellowships at Johns Hopkins Hospital where Cabell worked, processing the fellowship applications. Hill used the doctors’ identities to rent apartments, buy merchandise and obtain services. Indeed, shortly before Hill’s arrest, Hill was attempting to rent another apartment in a doctor’s identity because he and Cabell were about to be evicted for non-payment on the apartment they rented in the identity of another doctor.
The defendants obtained cash, merchandise and services worth over $188,000. The identities of over 250 individuals were compromised. All four defendants will be required to pay restitution for the full amount of the victims’ losses, which exceeds $188,000.
Hill and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Hill will be sentenced to 11 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett scheduled his sentencing for March 18, 2013, at 3:00 p.m..
Coffey and King previously pleaded guilty to the same charges. Cabell, Coffey and King face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy and a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft. Judge Bennett scheduled sentencing for Cabell, Coffey and King on March 21, February 13, and February 19, 2013, respectively, all at 3:00 p.m..