According to information presented in court, between June 2011 and July 2016, Melvin Gene Griggs Jr., 32, used the identifying information of multiple victims to access victims credit card and bank accounts. U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "Aggravated identity theft and schemes to defraud or compromise the personal and financial security of countless vulnerable victims will not be tolerated. This case demonstrates our commitment to protect the personal and financial information of citizens and institutions, and to hold offenders accountable for these disturbing crimes of dishonesty. We are pleased to work with our federal and local law enforcement partners to achieve justice for the victims in this case." During the course of the investigation, the Government found that the personal identifying information of over 400 victims had been compromised. The information included credit card numbers, CVV2 numbers, ATM pin numbers, bank names, routing and bank account numbers, phone numbers, social security numbers, birth dates, mothers maiden names, AOL IDs, email address and physical addresses. The scheme to defraud included opening new accounts in the victims name and/or adding himself as an authorized user to a victims account. Griggs would then have credit cards and financial statements from the accounts mailed to him. The credit cards were used to make purchases at local retailers and online. He also obtained money from victims bank accounts by wire transfers and cashing checks. "The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is pleased with Mr. Griggs sentence. A large part of the Postal Inspection Service mission is to ensure the publics trust in the U.S. Mail. These types of crimes against postal customers compromise that trust. This sentence reflects the
serious nature of the offense and will hopefully be a deterrent to others," said David M. McGinnis, Postal Inspector in Charge, Charlotte Division. On September 6, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Parker sentenced Griggs to 65 months imprisonment; 3 years supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $237,801.97. Additional reimbursements are possible pending a restitution hearing on Nov. 30, 2018. The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, United States Secret Service and the Memphis Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lorraine Craig prosecuted this case on the governments behalf.
-- Western District of Tennessee
Source: U.S. Secret Service