"Money mule' gets prison time in check scam case

found this here : http://journaltimes.com/news/local/crim ... 839b1.html

13 hours ago • By Kristen Zambo

RACINE — A Milwaukee man was sentenced on Friday to two years in prison for his role as a “money mule” in a scam targeting businesses, the poor or homeless.

Jeffrey Lamon Johnson, 40, also was sentenced to three years on extended supervision. He immediately was taken into custody to begin serving his sentence. Racine County Circuit Judge Michael Piontek granted Johnson credit for time served in jail at the beginning of the case.

Court records show Johnson spent less than two months in the Racine County Jail before being bailed out in early August. He pleaded no contest on Aug. 24 to a felony forgery count.

Investigators have said they believe Johnson was involved in a scam dubbed “Operation Homeless.”

U.S. Postal Inspector T.R. Williams has said this nationwide scam involves crews of people, usually from Georgia or North Carolina, going on “lucrative road trips,” during which they rent cars in other individuals’ names and stop at industrial complexes. That’s where they pilfer mail from those businesses’ mailboxes, looking for pieces that might include other businesses’ checks, she has said.

With those checks in hand, the scammers produce their own checks — duplicating the ones they’ve swiped, Williams has said. That allows the scam artists to cash more than one check.

In Johnson’s case, on Oct. 2, 2014, he went to Community State Bank in Sturtevant with a check for $3,261.33 from Kenosha Refrigeration in Bristol and tried to cash it, according to his criminal complaint.

When a bank employee grew suspicious and contacted the company’s owner, he said that check number still was in his checkbook, the complaint states.

When the bank employee walked to the back of the bank to verify the check, Johnson walked out, leaving his driver’s license there, according to the complaint.

How the Scam Works

According to U.S. Postal Inspector T.R. Williams, the "Operation Homeless" scam involves crews of people, usually from Georgia or North Carolina, going on “lucrative road trips,” during which they rent cars in other individuals’ names and stop at industrial complexes. That's where they pilfer mail from those businesses’ mailboxes, looking for pieces that might include other businesses’ checks.

With those checks in hand, the scammers produce their own checks — duplicating the ones they’ve swiped. That allows the scam artists to cash more than one check.