Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 10-25-16 Online Edition

Crime
Brothers Given Total Of 70 Years For Sex Trafficking Case
3 Women Involved In Identity Theft Scam
Last Thursday, a federal judge sentenced a Tampa man to 30 years in federal prison for sex trafficking minors. His brother was sentenced to 40 years on September 28th for his role in the crime.
U. S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew sentenced Antawan Hudson, 31, of Tampa to 30 years in prison. Hudson pleaded guilty on the first day of the trial in May 2016.
His brother, Maurice Williams, 26, was found guilty of sex trafficking minors and possession of child pornography on May 20, 2016. He was sen- tenced to 40 years in prison.
According to court docu- ments, the two men conspired to traffic underage girls by fraud, force and coercion in the commercial sex trade. They
ANTAWAN HUDSON
... Sentenced to 30 years in federal prison
worked together to post online prostitution ads for the victims and then transported the girls throughout Central Florida to have sex with customers.
After the victims had sex with the customers, Williams and
MAURICE WILLIAMS ... Sentenced to 40 years in federal prison
Hudson took some or all of the money in exchange for drugs, alcohol and beauty appoint- ments.
The brothers were indicted on the charges on November 4, 2015.
ISABELLE DENISE DALLAS .....still being sought
JESSICA DALLAS .....in custody.
CHANTELLE DANIELLE JONES .....in custody.
Attorney, Two Others Guilty In Money Laundering And Fraud Case
After a year-long investi- gation, St. Petersburg Police detectives charged two women so far with identity theft. Investigators arrested the women in the last two weeks, and are still actively searching for Isabelle Denise Dallas, 51, for scheming to defraud and criminal use of personal identification.
Between all the women, detectives identified 18 vic- tims, but believe there are more.
Investigators believe Dal- las had access to customers’ personal identification at her job, and shared the informa- tion with her daughter, Jes- sica Dallas.
Arrested so far are Jes- sica Dallas, 32, on a charge of scheming to defraud. She lives in Section 8 housing and used the personal infor- mation of 18 victims to open
fraudulent credit card ac- counts. The credit cards were used to pay her city water, Duke Energy, and cable bills at her home. They were also used to pay for jail commis- sary privileges for her youngest child’s father.
Chantelle Danielle Jones, 38, was arrested for scheming to defraud, and fraudulent use of personal identification information, as well as two outstanding war- rants. She allegedly used vic- tims’ information to rent furniture from online bank accounts. She used a victim’s personal information to rent furniture from Aarons’ Rentals for $4,328.29. The merchandise cannot be lo- cated.
Jones is also on surveil- lance video using a fraudu- lent credit card to make purchases at WaWa’s, CVS, and Winn Dixie.
Last week, a federal jury found an attorney and two others guilty of international money launder- ing and fraud. A sentencing date has not been determined.
The jury found Perry Don Cortese, 53, of Little River, Texas, Ms. Priscilla Ann Ellis 51, of Killeen, Texas, and Ms. Kenietta Rayshawn John- son 35, of Leavenworth, Kansas, guilty of conspiracy to commit international money laundering and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
Each faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in federal prison.
Cortese, Ms. Ellis, and Ms. Johnson were named in a superseding indictment on Sep- tember 24, 2015.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Cortese, Ms. Ellis, and Ms. Johnson were members of an international criminal organization that de- frauded dozens of victims across the United States and then laun-
ATTORNEY PERRY DON CORTESE
PRISCILLA ANN ELLIS
targeted and defrauded by fake suitors on dating websites. The conspiracy also employed hack- ers who compromised both indi- vidual and corporate e-mail accounts, ordering wire transfers from brokerage and business ac- counts to shell accounts con- trolled by conspirators.
Victims were instructed to wire money into funnel accounts held by conspirators, known as “money mules.”
The funds were then quickly moved to other accounts in the United States and around the world before the victims could discover the fraud. Bank records presented at trial indicate that, from 2012 to 2015, several mil- lions of dollars’ worth of wires were received in such accounts to be laundered.
Conspirators in Canada, Nigeria, South Korea, Senegal, and elsewhere helped coordinate the fraud and money laundering activity from abroad.
Cortese, a licensed attorney in Texas, worked for the conspir- ators by laundering victim money through his interest on lawyers trust accounts (“IOLTAs”). He also met with individuals in person to retrieve cash withdrawn from receiver accounts.
Cortese recruited his para- legal and others to open such ac- counts to launder funds. The evidence further showed that Ms. Johnson, then a bank em- ployee at Capital One, helped create counterfeit checks and monitor money flows between accounts controlled by conspira- tors.
dered the funds, much of which were sent overseas.
The fraud schemes took sev- eral forms. Many victims were law firms solicited online to per- form legal work, provided coun- terfeit cashier’s checks for deposit into the firms’ trust ac- counts, and then directed to wire money to third-party shell busi- nesses controlled by the conspir- ators.
Others were title companies defrauded in phony real estate transactions. Other victims were
UNCLE SANDY
It is enough that the people know 23, 30,34, 38 there was an election. The people who cast the votes 11, 17, 25, 28 decide nothing. The people who count 1, 9, 40, 45 the votes decide everything. 18, 47, 50, 55.
PAGE 20 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016