Page 40 - TPA Journal July August 2021

REASONABLE SUSPICION, TRAFFIC STOP. assistance of several mailmen, bribing them into
intercepting tax-refund checks on their behalves.
“This is where it gets good, man.” This was Chimene During the same period, Onyeri expanded this
Hamilton Onyeri’s response to questions regarding enterprise to include debit card fraud as well. He and
charges pending against him for violent crimes. For Akwar researched “bezels,” devices that would capture
Onyeri, criminal activity coalesced into daily life. a debit card’s information while it was used at an ATM,
Rather than obtain gainful employment to support and they had one made to further their scheme. They
himself, he engaged in a pattern of criminal conduct. also engaged Rasul Scott and Marcellus Burgin to assist
And this pattern ultimately caught up to him when he them. The combination of these activities proved
attempted to assassinate a Texas state judge. lucrative for Onyeri and his associates, resulting in
ATM withdrawals of $20,000 and $40,000 at a time.
Onyeri appeals one count of his conviction for this But Onyeri’s and Akwar’s luck was not limitless: they
pattern, namely his conviction for conspiring to violate were arrested and charged in Texas state court for some
the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of this fraudulent misconduct in 2012. When they were
(“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d). Substantively, he apprehended, Onyeri was out on bond for other charges,
alleges three issues on appeal. For the reasons set forth including violent crimes. And, prior to facing those
below, we affirm the judgment of the district court on all charges, Onyeri had been incarcerated for three years.
issues. As a result, Onyeri was not released on bond again and
remained in custody for one year—but he attempted to
Onyeri’s criminal activities involved a multitude of continue to lead his criminal enterprise, even from
misdeeds that spanned almost half a decade. Pertinent to prison.
this appeal is his criminal misconduct from late 2011 to
2015, the years during which Onyeri gathered and led It was at this point that the Honorable Julie H. Kocurek,
his associates to engage in racketeering activity, which a Texas state judge for the 390th District Court in
he cavalierly nicknamed the “Chimene, Incorporation.” Austin, was assigned to Onyeri’s case. Little did Onyeri
Because of the nature of Onyeri’s challenges on appeal, know, this was the beginning of the end for him. Onyeri
a summary of some of the evidence adduced at his trial ultimately pled guilty to the charges stemming from his
aids our discussion. and Akwar’s 2012 arrest, and Judge Kocurek placed
him on a three-year deferred adjudication probation,
Onyeri recruited his friend Bernard Akwar to assist him under which—“[p]rovided [he] obey[ed his] condition
in stealing credit card numbers through the use of a of probation and . . . successfully complete[d]
skimmer. As they perfected their craft, Onyeri also probation”—he would not face conviction for these
brought Henry Yehe into the enterprise, and Yehe would charges.
steal gift cards from the various stores they visited.
Next, the conspirators would emboss the stolen credit Only two and a half years later, however, the
card numbers onto the stolen gift cards and then encode government filed a motion to proceed with an
the gift cards with the same credit card information. adjudication of guilt, following allegations that Onyeri
They converted these gift cards into cash by using them had engaged in the fraudulent use of debit cards in
to purchase electronics and then selling the electronics Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. Judge Kocurek later
for cash, or by using them to buy legitimate gift cards. testified at Onyeri’s trial that she insisted the District
Onyeri also engaged a bank employee to open a bank Attorney’s Office move quickly with Onyeri’s case and
account for them using stolen identities. The reset the case for hearing on November 8, 2015. She
conspirators placed some of their proceeds into that further testified that she suggested Onyeri may face six
account. to seven years in prison.

Emboldened by their successes, Onyeri and Akwar also Onyeri acted quickly after this, fearing that he was
stole identities—“[n]ames, socials, and dates of going to be sent to prison. On November 6, 2015, two
birth”—to fabricate tax returns. They connected with days before the scheduled hearing, Onyeri struck.
Sherica Price, who would file the fraudulent returns for Before Judge Kocurek and her family returned home
them. And, in the course of this scheme, they sought the that Friday night, he placed a trash bag in front of her

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