Crossdressing Taxi Driver Imposter Sentenced to Prison

After posing as a taxi driver and swindling over 60 people in the D.C. area out of money, Nyerere Mitchell, 50, has been sentenced to jail time, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C.

Mitchell was arrested Nov. 27 and pled guilty to five counts of first-degree felony fraud in August. He was sentenced Friday to 40 months in prison and will be on five years probation after his prison term. He must pay $228,036 in restitution as well.

From at least April 2009 to November 2013 the Maryland man targeted people who had been drinking and talked them into withdrawing cash from ATMs. Mitchell would also keep people’s bank cards and pin numbers. He collected over $200,000.

The taxi driver imposter would usually drive a silver SUV Range Rover and wear a woman’s wig and padded breasts to appear as a woman to unsuspecting passengers. Government evidence shows that Mitchell frequently picked up passengers in Arlington, Va. and busy D.C. areas including Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, Foggy Bottom, and Chinatown.

Mitchell took the usually intoxicated passengers to ATMs on Wisconsin Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue. He would convince them to hand over their bank cards and pin numbers to pay for the ride. Since the ATM machines were on the driver’s side, Mitchell would withdraw more than the victims thought. Then he would hand back a similar looking bank card from a previous victim and keep the new one for later unauthorized withdrawals.

The Metropolitan Police searched Mitchell’s home in November 2013 as part of an investigation and found 205 stolen credit cards. A wig that he wore in a surveillance video was also found in his home.

Photo Credit: Police Mugshot