WBGZ Radio 5/22/2021 |
By Mark Ellebracht - WBGZ Radio
A New York man has been sentenced in federal court in a counterfeiting case out of Edwardsville. 30-year-old Johnny Collado with spend 28 months in federal prison plus supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. His co-defendant 47-year-old Elvin Lugo-Cales of Florida will spend 51 months in prison after pleading guilty in the case earlier this month.
Authorities say on March 2, 2020, the men flew from New York to St. Louis for the sole purpose of defrauding banks using stolen identities. On March 5, 2020, Collado drove Lugo-Cales to a US Bank location in Edwardsville. Lugo-Cales went inside the bank while Collado waited in the car. Lugo-Cales walked up to a bank teller and presented a counterfeit check in the amount of $3,650.00 made payable to an identity theft victim from Colorado. The bank teller recalled an internal e-mail she had received warning branc
WBGZ Radio 5/8/2021 |
By Mark Ellebracht - WBGZ Radio
A Florida man has been sentenced in federal court in a counterfeiting case out of Edwardsville. 47-year-old Elvin Lugo-Cales will spend 51 months in prison plus supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, use of a false passport, and aggravated identity theft.
Authorities say on March 2, 2020, Lugo-Cales and his co-defendant, Johnny Collado, flew from New York to St. Louis for the sole purpose of defrauding banks using stolen identities. On March 5, 2020, Collado drove Lugo-Cales to a US Bank location in Edwardsville. Lugo-Cales went inside the bank while Collado waited in the car. Lugo-Cales walked up to a bank teller and presented a counterfeit check in the amount of $3,650.00 made payable to an identity theft victim from Colorado. The bank teller recalled an internal e-mail she had received warning branches about a man traveling around the St. Louis area attempting to cash counterfeit ch
Edwardsville counterfeit defendant headed to federal prison
Ron DeBrock, ronald.debrock@thetelegraph.com
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EDWARDSVILLE A Florida man on Thursday was sentenced to federal prison after traveling to Edwardsville to cash counterfeit checks.
Elvin Lugo-Cales, 47, of Orlando, Florida, was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison and 3 years of court supervision after his release. In January, Lugo-Cales pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, use of a false passport and aggravated identity theft.
Information released by Assistant United States Attorney Luke J. Weissler stated that, on March 2, 2020, Lugo-Cales and his co-defendant, Johnny Collado, flew from New York to St. Louis for the sole purpose of defrauding banks using stolen identities. Weissler said the two were paid members of a criminal organization based in New York.
Two traveling fraudsters pleaded guilty this week to crimes committed in the Metro East region. 47-year-old Elvin Lugo-Cales of Orlando, Florida and 30-year-old Johnny Collado
Two plead guilty to Edwardsville bank fraud
Ron DeBrock, ronald.debrock@thetelegraph.com
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EDWARDSVILLE Two men this week pleaded guilty to federal charges related to bank fraud in Edwardsville in March.
Elvin Lugo-Cales, 47, of Orlando, Florida, and Johnny Collado, 30, of Bronx, New York, pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
According to court documents, on March 2, 2020, Lugo-Cales and Collado traveled from New York to St. Louis for the sole purpose of defrauding banks in the St. Louis metro region. On March 5, they drove to a U.S. Bank location in Edwardsville where Collado waited in the car while Lugo-Cales went into the bank.