Four Charged in Cell Phone Scam

An East St. Louis grand jury returned a five-count indictment against four St. Clair County residents as they are facing federal fraud charges. The charged individuals are:

• 36-year old Michael Henderson of Fairview Heights
• 37-year old Kyetia Hines of Belleville.
• 23-year old Antoinette Z. Davis of Cahokia
• And 27-year old Jasmine Davison of Cahokia

The four individuals are accused of devising and participating in a scheme to defraud Sprint stores in the Metro East using stolen identities. According to the indictment, from October 2015 to May 2018, the four defendants operation their scheme in St. Clair and Madison Counties and elsewhere. The defendants using the names and social security numbers of other people to set up new accounts for cellular service.

They used the accounts to acquire new cellphones under contract. The defendants didn’t use the phones. They allegedly sold the phones to other cellular retail stores for cash. According to the indictment, during the conspiracy Henderson worked at a Sprint store in Belleville and helped facilitate the fraud using his position.

Four phones were allegedly acquired at a time by Defendants Hines, Davis, and Davison. After the phones were acquired, they immediately canceled the accounts. 37-year old Tamecia Buckley of Cahokia is the alleged ringleader of the scheme. He is also named in the indictment but was charged separately back in July.

Buckley has already pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft, among other charges. On Oct. 20, she is scheduled to be sentenced. Davis made his appearance in federal district court yesterday for their initial appearances and pleaded not guilty. Their trial date is set for Nov. 3. Hines will make her initial appearance on Sept. 10.