Jason Evans, age 47, formerly of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud, in connection with two separate fraud schemes, to aggravated identity theft, and to violating his supervised release on a previous federal bank fraud conviction.
The guilty pleas were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Bo Keane of the United States Secret Service – Baltimore Field Office.
According to his plea agreement, in 2015, Evans was sentenced to four years in federal prison, and began five years of supervised release on January 17, 2018. Evans admitted that from June 29, 2019 through August 30, 2019, he fraudulently obtained and used a credit card in the name and identity of “JM” using JM’s name, date of birth and social security number. The bank approving the credit card application also opened a business account connected to that credit card. Evans then obtained a counterfeit Pennsylvania driver’s license bearing the name of JM and a photograph of Evans, with the date of birth altered to be consistent with Evans’ age.
On July 30, 2019, Evans presented the credit card and the counterfeit driver’s license at a bank in the 7900 block of Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie, Maryland, and requested a cash advance of $14,400, which the bank approved. The next day, Evan used the credit card and counterfeit Pennsylvania driver’s license at a store in Annapolis, Maryland, to purchase Apple merchandise totaling $12,114.74, including nine iPhone XS Max cell phones.
On August 6, 2019, Evans presented the credit card and counterfeit Pennsylvania driver’s license in JM’s name at a bank in the 1000 block of Washington Boulevard in Laurel, Maryland, and requested a cash advance of $14,400. The cash advance was not immediately approved due to a problem with the bank’s computer system, but before the system could be rebooted and the transaction identified as fraudulent, Evans left the bank, leaving the fraudulently obtained credit card and counterfeit license in JM’s name behind.
Evans obtained or attempted to obtain at least $65,000 using accounts opened in the identities of JM and other victims.
On December 11, 2019, Evans was charged with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in U.S. District Court in Maryland, as well as with violating his supervised release. Evans was placed on 24/7 home detention with electronic monitoring. On October 19, 2020, Evans was allowed out on a curfew, but still had electronic monitoring. On April 21, 2021, Evans was released from electronic monitoring.
After he was taken off 24/7 lockdown, Evans resumed his criminal conduct with an entirely new fraud scheme. From on or about January 12, 2021, through on or about August 2, 2021, Evans used counterfeit credit cards bearing real numbers of accounts from two separate, federally insured, banks to purchase gift cards and other items from food stores in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland, ultimately obtaining at least $59,837.79 in gift cards. The counterfeit credit cards were embossed with the number to be used, but were not properly encoded, so that they did not “swipe” and had to be hand entered by the clerks.
Evans used two separate counterfeit credit cards to purchase a $450 Visa gift card, plus a $5.59 fee, at a food store in Lusby, Maryland on June 21, 2021, and to purchase a $480 Visa gift card, plus a $5.59 fee and a $1.00 donation to charity, at a food store located at Bel Air, Maryland on July 9, 2021.
On July 25, 2021, Evans was arrested in Delaware as a result of attempting a fraudulent transaction and was found to have counterfeit credit cards and identifications, an embosser, and drugs in his possession.
As part of his plea agreement, Evan will be required to forfeit and pay restitution in the full amount of the victims’ losses, which is at least $124,837.79.
Evans and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Evans will be sentenced to between 57 and 66 months in federal prison, not including the anticipated penalty of between eight and 14 months in prison for the violation of supervised release, which U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett advised Evans he would impose consecutively to the sentence for the new fraud offenses. Judge Bennett has scheduled sentencing for July 18, 2022, at 11 a.m.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the U.S. Secret Service for its work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tamera L. Fine and Paul A. Riley, who are prosecuting the case.
