Easley Woman Indicted for Conspiring to Commit Wire Fraud

Residents of Four States Indicted for Conspiring to Commit Wire Fraud. 

An Easley woman is among the ten people in four states indicted for conspiring to commit wire fraud. 

United States Attorney Bill Nettles announced today that Kathy Valentine Stewart, 59, of Easley had been indicted by a federal grand jury.

Paul Michael Gibson, a/k/a Joe Gibson, age 56, of Spartanburg, South Carolina; Billy John Mills, Jr., age 44, of Huntersville, North Carolina; Lewis Jones Harward, Jr., age 40, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Richard James Harward, age 38, of Belton, South Carolina; Joshua Manuel Maldonado, age 24, of Anderson, South Carolina; Lennie Wylie Sanders, age 31, of Danville, Virginia; Wanda Suzette Smith, age 58, of Fountain Inn, South Carolina; Kathy Valentine Stewart, age 59, of Easley, South Carolina; Brian J. Sullivan, age 55, of Lawrenceville, Georgia; and Jillian Ventrello, age 38, of Huntersville, North Carolina; were all charged in a 3-count Indictment with conspiring to commit wire fraud, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. 

The maximum penalty the defendants could receive is twenty years imprisonment. 

The case was investigated by agents of the United States Postal Inspection Service along with the United States Secret Service, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney David C. Stephens of the Greenville office for prosecution.               

The United States Attorney stated that all charges in these Indictments are merely accusations and that all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.