GA Inmate Scammed Sarasota Woman Of $12K: U.S. DOJ

GEORGIA — Two Georgia residents, including an inmate, face charges after scamming a Sarasota woman of more than $12,000, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Anthony Sanders, also known as “Slanga,” 28, of McRae-Helena, Georgia, and Marlita Andrews, 28, of Macon, Georgia, were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

If convicted, they each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

The two also intend to give back $12,825, the alleged profits from their crime, the DOJ said.
Sanders, an inmate in a Georgia prison, and Andrews, who was outside the prison, conspired to defraud the victim, a Sarasota woman, the department said.

The victim reported that she received a call from a scammer impersonating a deputy with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office who told her that there was a warrant issued for her arrest because she missed jury duty.

She was directed to a “Bonding Transition Center” — really a Bitcoin ATM, which allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies — to make a payment to satisfy the warrant.

The victim deposited more than $12,000 in cryptocurrency into three separate accounts, as instructed. The funds were then quickly transferred from those accounts into a bitcoin wallet belonging to Andrews.

By the next day, all funds were dispersed from Andrews’ bitcoin wallet into several other accounts.

The investigation revealed that Sanders participated in this scheme and used phones in prison to direct Andrews where to send profits of the scam. Sanders also directed Andrews to purchase prepaid phones to send to him in prison using a drone.