United States of America v. Philip Charles Smith and Antonio J. Evans, Sr.

Savannah, Georgia, criminal defense lawyers represented the Defendants charged with wire fraud.

Philip Charles Smith, 41, of Richmond Hill, Georgia, and Antonio J. Evans Sr., 41, of Sylvania, Georgia were accused of engaging in a conspiracy to create fake invoices to defraud the Port of Savannah.

Smith previously was employed by a national logistics and transportation company that served the Port of Savannah, while Smith was the owner of a local trucking company that served as a licensed carrier for Smith’s employer. One of Smith’s duties was to award contracts on behalf of the company to such third-party carriers to move freight from the port to other destinations.

From about July 2021 to August 2024, Smith devised a scheme in which he used his employee access to create fake freight-hauling jobs that he assigned to Evans. The company then would unwittingly pay Evans for work that didn’t exist, and Evans would kick back a portion of the funds to Smith. The $821,899 in restitution represents the total amount of the company’s loss from the three years of the scheme.

“Schemes like this exploit positions of trust and undermine the integrity of critical supply chain operations supporting the Port of Savannah,” said Brad Snider, Senior Supervisory Resident Agent of FBI Georgia’s Savannah office. “The FBI is committed to holding accountable those who use fraud and deception for personal gain, and we will continue working with our partners to protect businesses from financial crimes that impact commerce and the broader economy.”

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted for the United States of America by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorneys Darron J. Hubbard and L. Alexander Hamner.

Smith was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term and Antonio J. Evans Sr. was sentenced to 13 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.