The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Feds: New Haven man pleads guilty in mail, identity theft scheme
HARTFORD — A New Haven man faces up to 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilty Thursday to a mail theft, identity theft and bank fraud scheme that affected dozens of victims, according to federal prosecutors.
Marquis Williams, 45, and his associate, Dara Morrison, 41, were accused of stealing mail from hundreds of residential mailboxes in Connecticut from at least 2018 through November 2019, according to Vanessa Roberts Avery, the United States District Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
These pieces of mail contained checks, driver’s licenses, passports, social security cards, banking information and other personal information from businesses and individuals statewide, including older nursing home residents, Avery’s office said.
Williams and Morrison used stolen identities to produce fake identification. They then used the fake identification to cash or deposit stolen checks. The duo also used the stolen checks to create additional, forged copies of these checks that they cashed or deposited into accounts they opened using stolen identifies. Morrison also used stolen credit cards, prosecutors said.
Officials identified more than 70 bank fraud victims throughout the investigation and believe Williams and Morrison stole more than $118,000 through this scheme. Prosecutors said the two attempted to steal another $58,000.
Williams has been convicted of a similar crime in the past. In 2002, Williams was sentenced to more than four years in prison for conspiracy, identity fraud and credit card fraud offenses, Avery’s office said.
Williams pleaded guilty Thursday in Hartford federal court to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which carries a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced in Hartford federal court on September 14.
Morrison, also of New Haven, pleaded guilty to the same offense on May 12, 2021.
Both Williams and Morrison are detained pending their sentencings.