‘Rich Felons’ music duo stole checks from mail, cashed counterfeit versions, feds say
A pair of “aspiring musicians” and their friend are accused of using stolen personal information and checks swiped from the mail to defraud banks for almost $36,000 across Virginia, according to federal prosecutors.
Now one of them has taken a plea deal.
Wilbert Bouldin, of Richmond, Virginia, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and illegal possession of a firearm on Thursday, April 28, in the Eastern District of Virginia, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
The 25-year-old is half of the music duo “Rich Felons” with Lil Warren T.M. Jackson, who was named in the indictment alongside him.
A third person, North Carolina resident Deshawn D. Mobley, has also been charged.
Bouldin, who has six previous felony convictions, was ordered to remain in jail after his arrest in March, court records show. He could not be reached for comment. A judge pointed to his four attempts to flee during the course of the federal investigation in issuing the detention order.
His public defender declined to comment in a statement to McClatchy News on April 28.
A grand jury indicted Bouldin, Jackson and Mobley on Feb. 1, court documents show, but the alleged fraud dates to at least 2020.
According to the indictment, in April 2020 a man reported to Richmond police that his wallet with his driver’s license and Social Security card was stolen from his car. Several months later, the government said, a $50 business check for pest control services was also reported stolen from the mail.
Mobley is accused of using the stolen information to make four counterfeit checks from the business that wrote the pest control check to the man whose wallet was taken.
He then gave the checks as well as the stolen driver’s license and Social Security card to Bouldin and Jackson, prosecutors said. The pair ultimately cashed all four checks at different banks in Williamsburg, Gloucester, Newport News and Hampton, Virginia, for a total of $9,728.80, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said another business check for $1,771.22 was stolen from the mail shortly thereafter, which Mobley reportedly used to make an additional counterfeit check for Bouldin and Jackson to cash. They were nearly caught at a bank in Richmond on Oct. 30, 2020, but managed to escape after a teller notified the police, the indictment states.
Bouldin and Jackson later opened bank accounts in their own names and deposited a stolen check for $26,046.41 directly into one of the accounts, the government said.
According to the judge’s detention order, Bouldin evaded law enforcement in his fiance’s car in January 2021 and tried to flee again in May 2021 when he was being arrested on state charges. Following the federal indictment in February, the judge said, Bouldin made another escape attempt while leaving his fiance’s house.
Bouldin was accused of having a gun and individual bags of marijuana in his possession when he was arrested.
Prosecutors said Bouldin faces between 2 and 42 years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 26, though federal sentences are typically less than the maximum.
The cases against Jackson and Mobley are ongoing.
