EAST ST. LOUIS, Mo., July 28 (UPI) -- U.S. officials said Thursday a former Missouri prison inmate confessed to conducting an identity-theft operation while incarcerated.
Danwine Dewayne Renard, 47, pleaded guilty Wednesday in East St. Louis to four felony charges: aiding and abetting bank fraud, conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bank fraud and two counts of aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Starting in July 2008, Renard advised his co-conspirators for two years through letters and phone calls as they stole the identities of others and used them to open bank accounts in Madison and St. Clair counties and elsewhere, prosecutors said.
They then deposited fraudulent checks in the accounts and used ATMs to withdraw money, the Post-Dispatch reported.
Further, they wrote bad checks against the accounts, prosecutors said.
Losses due to their activities amounted to more than $200,000, court documents indicated.
Renard is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 7 and could be sentenced to more than 12 years in prison, and may be subject to a fine and restitution.
A co-conspirator, Selena Marie Bradford, is serving an 11-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay $122,943 in restitution.
