Two Pennsylvania residents have been sentenced after being found part of an elaborate identity theft scheme with hundreds of unknowing victims.
PENNSYLVANIA | Nana Mensah, age 37, of Delaware, has been sentenced to 8 years and 3 months imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer P. Wilson. Mensah was convicted on 15 counts of mail fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft. Additionally, Mensah is to pay $357,566 in restitution to Sprint, Inc.
Judge Wilson also sentenced co-defendant Shaderick Jojo Opare, age 32, of Reading, Pennsylvania, to three days’ imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Opare was also ordered to pay restitution to Sprint, Inc. in the amount of $185,272.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Mensah and Opare along with co-conspirators located internationally would use stolen identities to cell phone accounts through Sprint, Inc. after opening the account, they would have phones shipped to vacant addresses where the phones would then be collected and sold. This scheme resulted in over 830 phones being illegally re-sold. These phones had a combined value of over $595,000. Over 240 individuals fell victim to this identity theft scheme.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has confirmed that Mensah and Opare were initially indicted in November of 2017, with the following codefendants:
- Patrick Barkers-Woode was sentenced on July 13, 2022, to 111 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $357,565.92 in restitution following his conviction of 15 counts of mail fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit mail fraud and identity theft;
- Jason Moskovitz was sentenced on July 13, 2022, to 39 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $201,574 in restitution following pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft;
- Mody Kalle was sentenced on March 4, 2020, to two years imprisonment and ordered to pay $201,574 in restitution following pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft; and
- Sean Murphy was sentenced on August 27, 2020, to two years probation and ordered to pay $79,944 in restitution following pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
The investigation was handled by Homeland Security Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Delaware State Police, and the Derry Township Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott R. Ford and Christian T. Haugsby prosecuted the case.
