Former Md. inmate sentenced to 5 years for credit card fraud involving Bitcoin, dark web
Abraham Oliver, 26, a former inmate in the Montgomery County Department of Corrections, was sentenced to 61 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and for aggravated identity theft while he was incarcerated.
The judge also ordered Oliver to forfeit approximately $12,166.93 held in inmate accounts and pay restitution in the full amount of the victim’s losses, which is $31,252.35.
According to Oliver’s plea agreement, between January and April 2018, while Oliver was an inmate in the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, he conspired with co-defendant Octavia Ikea Terry to fraudulently obtain and use the credit and debit card numbers of others, without their knowledge or permission.
Specifically, Oliver admitted that he directed Terry to purchase Bitcoin, then use the Bitcoin to purchase credit and debit card numbers on the dark web. 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 provided Terry with the inmate numbers during telephone calls he made from DOCR to Terry. Oliver also told Terry that other inmates would send Terry checks from their resident inmate accounts and instructed Terry to set up a post office box in North Carolina to receive the checks.
Following Oliver’s instructions, Terry used the fraudulently obtained credit and debit card numbers to make unauthorized deposits totaling $31,252.35 into the accounts of at least 12 different inmates, including $5,579.10 into Oliver’s inmate account.
The debit and credit accounts from which the money was drawn included the accounts of four identity theft victims. Inmates, including Oliver and two other inmates, authorized a total of $9,325 to be sent from their inmate escrow accounts to Terry at various addresses, including the post office box in North Carolina set up at Oliver’s direction.
The fraudulent transactions resulted in chargebacks to victim Company A of $31,252.35.
Octavia Ikea Terry, age 25, of Maxton, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to her role in the conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing.
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