Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that NATHANAEL FOUCAULT — a former U.S. Postal Service (“USPS”) letter carrier who was charged with eight other defendants in connection with their theft and unauthorized use of credit cards to defraud several national financial institutions, credit card companies, and major retailers — was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe. FOUCAULT’s co-defendants, JOHNNY DAMUS, a/k/a “Ace,” RASHAAN RICHARDS, a/k/a “Jay Dee,” a/k/a “JD,” a/k/a “Payso,” DEVON RICHARDS, a/k/a “Dev,” CONRAD HERON, a/k/a “Conny Cash,” LOUIS JEUNE VERLY, a/k/a “Luis Jesus Virola,” KAREEM SHEPHERD, a/k/a “Reem,” a/k/a “Marcus Ford,” a/k/a “Frank James,” FABIOLA MOMPOINT, a/k/a “Lady Fab,” and JOHNATHAN PERSAUD were previously sentenced by Judge Gardephe.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “These individuals participated in a years-long scheme to manipulate credit card companies and major retailers across New York and New Jersey in order to enrich themselves. The sprawling scheme was sophisticated, organized, and efficient. The USPS employees involved in this scheme abused their positions of trust in order to supercharge the fraud, which caused serious financial loss and compromised the identities of hundreds of victims. Thanks to the diligence of our law enforcement partners and the career prosecutors of this Office, the defendants have now been held accountable for their brazen criminal conduct.”
According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment and statements made in public filings:
The defendants were convicted and sentenced for their participation in a multi-year scheme to steal credit cards from the mail spanning from approximately December 2018 to September 2022; use those stolen credit cards at a variety of stores, including high-end retailers; and sell some of the merchandise purchased with the stolen cards online. In order to obtain credit cards for use in the scheme, beginning in December 2018, RASHAAN RICHARDS, DEVON RICHARDS, and SHEPHERD conspired with USPS letter carriers, including MOMPOINT, FOULCAULT, and PERSAUD, to steal credit cards directly from mail routes. At the direction of DAMUS, members of the conspiracy, including RASHAAN RICHARDS, DEVON RICHARDS, SHEPHERD, HERON, and VERLY used the stolen credit cards at a variety of stores, including high-end retailers in Manhattan, resulting in over $1.4 million in charges to the credit card companies. In order to use the stolen credit cards, the defendants worked together to obtain personal identification information for hundreds of victims using a variety of internet-based sources so that they could provide credit card companies with the information necessary to activate the stolen credit cards. Following their purchases, the defendants transferred some of the fraudulently obtained items to DAMUS who, working together with a close associate, sold the items on a particular website, LuxurySnob.com, which purported to be an “online consignment and personal shopping company” specializing in “pre-owned luxury items,” but, in truth and in fact, many of the items it sells were purchased using stolen credit cards.
FOUCAULT, 30, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $11,803.91 in restitution and $11,803.91 in forfeiture.
A chart containing the sentences of FOUCAULT’s co-defendants is below.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work and diligence of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, USPS – Office of the Inspector General, and the New York City Police Department.
DEFENDANT | SENTENCE IMPOSED |
RASHAAN RICHARDS* | Six years in prison, forfeiture of $536,434.01 and 90 luxury goods and electronics |
JOHNNY DAMUS* | 63 months in prison, forfeiture of $536,434.01, over 600 luxury items, and the URL www.luxurysnob.com |
KAREEM SHEPHERD | Seven years in prison and forfeiture of $536,434.01 |
DEVON RICHARDS | Three years in prison, forfeiture of $369,543.43 and 15 luxury goods |
CONRAD HERON | Three years in prison and forfeiture of $536,434.01 |
LOUIS JEUNE VERLY | Two years in prison |
FABIOLA MOMPOINT | One year in prison and forfeiture of $91,456.39 |
JOHNATHAN PERSAUD | Three years of probation and forfeiture of $29,104.73 |
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