United States of America v. Brandon Jermaine Johnson

RICHMOND, Va. – Brandon Jermaine Johnson, 28, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced today to 96 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, on charges of bank fraud and conspiracy. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount $25,098.30.



Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Mark R. Herring, Attorney General of Virginia; Gary Barksdale, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Kathy A. Michalko, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service's Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney.



Johnson pleaded guilty on July 14, 2014. According to court documents and evidence presented at the trial of co-defendant Rasheeda McConnell, Johnson was part of a group that stole business checks from commercial mailboxes and used them to make counterfeit checks. The group then recruited people from areas where the homeless or unemployed would congregate to cash the counterfeit checks. In return, the check-cashers received a small sum of cash. The remaining proceeds went to the recruiters. Johnson recruited check-cashers and provided them with counterfeit checks.



Four other co-defendants in this case pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to terms of incarceration as follows: Jeffrey Keith Barnes, II, 7 ½ months; Devante Carson, 33 months; Christopher Eugene Pope, 15 months; and Kevin Lavon Smith, 9 months. Another co-defendant, Rasheeda McConnell, was convicted by a jury and sentenced to serve 60 months. Co-defendant Damion Latoras Foster was arrested on September 16, 2014, and is currently set for trial on February 2, 2015.

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