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Date: 05-16-2018
Case Style:
United States of America v. Tirrell Perry Thomas, et al.
Western District of Michigan Federal Courthouse - Grand Rapids, Michigan
Case Number:
Judge: Paul L. Maloney
Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan (Kent County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: Kate Zell and Christopher O'Connor
Defendant's Attorney: Helen C. Nieuwenhuis for Tirrell Perry Thomas
Ray Buffmyer for Josiah Nathan Preston
Mary Chartier-Mittendorf for Elnora Snipes
Britt Morton Cobb for Earl Lee Cobb, IV
Lucas Xavier Dillon, Sr. for Antoine Naivon Younger
Daniel R. Fagan for Nickolas Maurice Fry
Deno P. Fotieo for Brenda Marie Davis
Donald W. Garthe for Kevin Lavell Hunter, II
LaRissa Dione Hollingsworth for LaRissa Dione Hollingsworth
Sarah Riley Howard for Tiffany Danielle Sanders
John M. Karafa for John M. Karafa
Roman J. Kosiorek for Roman J. Kosiorek
Description: Grand Rapids, MI - 18 Defendants Sentenced In Bank Card Scheme Outcome: See above Plaintiff's Experts: Defendant's Experts: Comments:
Cirilo Martinez for Darmesha Lakeya Gunn
Paul Mitchell for Kyle Dwayne Mosley
Anna Rebekah Rapa for Kelsey Alice Thompson
Donald L. Sappanos for Jerome Datra Perry
Kenneth P. Tableman for Mary Radcliff
Jolene J. Weiner-Vatter for James Langford
Richard E. Zambon for Earl Lee Cobb, IV
Tirrell Thomas, the Michigan leader of the scheme, sent to prison for 102 months
Tirrell Perry Thomas, the Michigan leader of a scheme to defraud Bank of America, was sentenced to 102 months (8.5 years) in federal prison as part of an ongoing multi-state investigation that has resulted in felony convictions for 18 participants, U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced today. The Honorable Paul L. Maloney, U.S. District Judge, sentenced Thomas and the other defendants for their involvement in the bank card fraud scheme, which sought to obtain more than $780,000 from Bank of America and resulted in losses totaling $455,709. This is Thomas’s third federal felony conviction. He was convicted of federal drug trafficking offenses in 1999 and 2007.
The following defendants were sentenced for their respective roles in the fraud scheme, including accountholders who opened or used Bank of America accounts to accept fraudulent check deposits and then make fraudulent withdrawals at banks and casinos, mid-level recruiters who accompanied and
directed accountholders on trips to open bank accounts and withdraw funds, and the leaders and organizers of the scheme, who collected and divided the fraud proceeds:
Tirrell Perry Thomas (Kalamazoo): 102 months in prison
Earl Lee Cobb IV (Chicago): 78 months in prison
Nickolas Maurice Fry (Kalamazoo): 41 months in prison, plus an additional 13 months in prison for a related federal supervised release violation
Jerome Datra Perry (South Haven): 15 months in prison
Josiah Nathan Preston (Wyoming): 14 months in prison
Kyle Dwayne Mosley (Kalamazoo): 14 months in prison
James Langford (South Haven): 12 months and one day in prison
Darmesha Lakeya Gunn (Parchment): 11 months in prison
Dwayne Edward Perry (Grand Rapids): 8 months in prison
Tiffany Danielle Sanders (Sturgis): 4 months in prison
Elnora Snipes (South Haven): 3 months in prison
Desiree Analiese Winfield (Kalamazoo): 2 months in prison
Antoine Naivon Younger (Kalamazoo): 1 month in prison
Brenda Marie Davis (Kalamazoo): 1 day in prison
Sean Allen Haney (Grand Rapids): 3 years of probation
Kelsey Alice Thompson (Grand Rapids): 2 years of probation
Kevin Lavelle Hunter II (Kalamazoo): 2 years of probation
Crystal Kaye Pugh (Norton Shores): 2 years of probation
In addition to the prison and probation sentences, each defendant sentenced to prison will serve a period of supervised release after their custodial sentence, and each defendant was ordered to pay restitution to Bank of America ranging from $8,027 to $455,709, depending on the amount of actual
loss for which they were held responsible.
The sentencings follow a 28-count indictment that was returned by a grand jury in August 2017 alleging that 19 people participated in a conspiracy to defraud Bank of America in November and December 2015. The fraud was accomplished by using debit cards to withdraw funds from ATMs and
casinos in Michigan, which had been fraudulently deposited into the bank accounts in Illinois, by Chicago co-conspirator Earl Lee Cobb IV. Eighteen defendants pled guilty to at least one count in the indictment and one defendant, an accountholder, was allowed to enter a period of pretrial
diversion, a form of probation without entry of a guilty plea.
This matter was investigated by the Detroit Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago, with assistance from the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Tribal Police Department.