In August 2021, a federal grand jury in Sherman, Texas returned a seven-count superseding indictment charging 101 individuals in a cell phone trafficking conspiracy — a great deal resided in Dallas-Fort Worth and its surrounding areas. Now, many of those charged are pleading guilty.
According to KRLD News Radio, Plano prosecutors in particular are getting dozens of guilty pleas. Recently, two additional individuals apprehended in "Operation Cash Out" officially confessed to the federal offenses. The man and woman who pleaded guilty this week each received 3 to 5 years probation for the robberies. These recent confessions bring the tally of cases with acknowledged culpability to 77.
“The individuals arrested during this investigation committed a litany of financial and cyber-enabled financial crimes ranging from wire fraud and pandemic-related fraud, to bank fraud and more,” said U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in charge of the Dallas Field Office, Bill Smarr. “This case is a testament to the teamwork and partnership at all levels of law enforcement to stop these cyber criminals from defrauding American citizens.”
On Aug. 11, 2021, a superseding indictment was issued, accusing 101 individuals of various crimes, including conspiring to disrupt interstate commerce, interfering with interstate commerce, using or displaying firearms during violent crimes, conspiring to transport stolen property across state lines, engaging in mail fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and participating in money laundering conspiracy.
The indictment alleged that in late October 2020, a series of armed takeover-style robberies took place at AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon retail cell phone stores in North Texas. A total of 23 armed takeover robberies were committed or attempted at various retail cellular phone stores located in Dallas, Corinth, Balch Springs, Seagoville, Greenville, Colleyville, Flower Mound, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Houston, Fort Worth and Garland.
Nearly $100 million of products were sold to foreign importers. The investigation revealed that approximately 20,000 products were acquired by identity theft. The overall estimated losses exceed $42 million.
