Four from St. Clair County indicted for alleged roles in cell phone scheme, wire fraud
Four metro-east residents were indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a scheme to use stolen identities to defraud Sprint wireless telephone stores, according to a release from U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois.
Michael Henderson, 36, of Fairview Heights, Kyetia Hines, 37, of Belleville, Antoinette Z. Davis, 23, of Cahokia, and Jasmine Davison, 27, of Cahokia each faced indictments Friday.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Hines worked at a Sprint store in Belleville. The defendants allegedly acquired up to four cell phones at a time, set up accounts for service using the names and social security numbers of other people and used those accounts to acquire new cell phones before selling them to cellular dealers for cash.
The scheme operated from October 2015 to May 2018 in St. Clair County, Madison County and elsewhere, according to the indictment. Hines, Henderson, Davis and Davison each were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The maximum sentence for the conspiracy charge is 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory sentence of two years, which runs consecutively with other sentences, according to the U.S. attorney.
The alleged leader of the scheme, Tamecia Buckley, 37, of Cahokia, was indicted in July.
Buckley pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft along with other charges. She’s scheduled to sentenced on Oct. 20.
On Thursday, Henderson and Davis appeared in federal district court and pleaded not guilty. Their trial is scheduled for Nov. 3. Hines’ court date is Sept. 10, and Davison hasn’t been arrested.
The United States Postal Inspection Service and the Cahokia Police Department handled the investigation.
