A Garland man has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for his role in a so-called "mystery shopper" mail fraud, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
John Lewis Davis, II, 45, of Garland, pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and two counts of mail fraud. He was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay.
According to court documents, between August 2014 and January 2018, the defendant conspired with others to send counterfeit U.S. Postal money orders and checks to unwitting individuals, who would then cash the money orders at banks and other financial institutions and send a portion of the money back to the defendant and his co-conspirators.
As part of the fraud, the defendant and his co-conspirators caused two packages from Nigeria to be sent to the defendant. Both packages were intercepted by law enforcement prior to reaching the recipients. Upon opening the packages, law enforcement found approximately 3,400 counterfeit money orders between the two parcels.
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Trial Attorney Matthew P. Mattis of the Justice Department's Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nick Bunch (fmr.) and Katherine Miller of the Northern District of Texas prosecuted the case.
