Jacksonville, Florida Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that a federal jury has found Anthony Johnson (52, Jacksonville) guilty of nine counts of aggravated identity theft, nine counts of bank fraud, seven counts of false representation of a Social Security number, and three counts of mail fraud. He faces up to 30 years in prison for each bank fraud offense; up to 20 years imprisonment for each mail fraud offense; up to 5 years in prison for each charge of falsely representing a Social Security number; up to 3 consecutive years in prison for violation of supervised release; and a mandatory minimum penalty of 2 years imprisonment for each aggravated identity theft count. No date has been set for sentencing or the violation hearing.
Johnson was indicted on Aug. 10, 2016.
According to evidence presented at trial, starting in 2014, Johnson falsely claimed to be a former member of the U.S. Army and used the Social Security number of two victims, including a lawyer from Seattle, Washington, to open a bank account and obtain a loan and multiple credit cards from United Services Automobile Association (USAA). After obtaining multiple convenience checks on the credit cards, Johnson withdrew thousands of dollars from the USAA bank account for his own use. After obtaining a genuine Florida drivers license under the identity of a Texas doctor, Johnson then obtained two fraudulent loans totaling over $148,000 from Bankers Healthcare Group, LLC (BHG) and had the money from BHG wired into a TD Bank business account in the name of a false medical data company that he had incorporated in Florida. Using the same identity, Johnson obtained additional loans from Springleaf Financial Services and had the proceeds wired to the same bank account. Johnson then set up a personal bank account at TD Bank in the victims name and began funneling money from the business account into the personal account. Thereafter, Johnson began making large cash withdrawals to fund his purchase of luxury items, including a $70,000 Mercedes Benz.
During this time, Johnson used the identity of a fourth victim to obtain an apartment under that victims name and then obtained another Florida drivers license under the identity of a fifth victim. Using proceeds from his criminal activity, Johnson left the United States and traveled to Dubai in June and July of 2016. While there, he spent more than $4,000 at a club/restaurant, stayed at a high-end hotel, and purchased expensive personal items.
On July 11, 2016, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in coordination with the U.S. Marshals Service, arrested Johnson for violation of supervised release as he reentered the United States at Orlando International Airport. He was detained and has remained in federal custody since that time.
This case was investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Intelligence, the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office, the U.S. Marshal Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Secret Service (Jacksonville Field Office). It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin C. Frein and Beatriz Gonzalez.
--DOJ Middle District of Florida
Source: U.S. Secret Service