Maryland Inmate Sentenced for Mail and Wire Fraud
A Maryland man was sentenced to five years in prison for funding inmate accounts with stolen credit cards purchased on the darkweb.
U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Abraham Oliver, age 26, to 61 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release. Oliver previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
When Oliver was an inmate at the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation (DOCR), he directed Octavia Ikea Terry, age 25, of Maxton, North Carolina, to purchase Bitcoin and then use the Bitcoin to buy stolen credit and debit cards on the darkweb.
“Oliver further instructed Terry to identify available credit and debit counts available for sale that were from Maryland, then use the debit and credit card numbers to make deposits into Oliver’s inmate escrow account and other inmates’ escrow accounts.”
Oliver also instructed Terry to set up a Post Office box in North Carolina where other inmates could send checks from their inmate escrow accounts.
Using the stolen credit and debit cards, Terry deposited $31,252.35 into the accounts of at least 12 different inmates. She deposited $5,579.10 into Oliver’s inmate account. Oliver and two other inmates mailed checks to Terry’s Post Office box totaling $9,325.
Judge Hazel ordered Oliver to forfeit $12,166.93 and pay restitution of $31,252.35.
Terry pleaded guilty to her role in the conspiracy but has not yet been sentenced.