RALEIGH - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today before United States Magistrate Judge James E. Gates, KITRINA DIANE RHODES, 43, of Magnolia, North Carolina pled guilty to Making Material False Statements, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001.
In October of 2012 the United States Secret Service (USSS) was investigating RHODES’s brother in connection with various allegations of credit card fraud and identity theft. On Oct. 11, 2012 a special agent with the USSS went to RHODES’s residence to locate RHODES’s brother’s laptop computer and other evidence pertaining to the credit card fraud and identity theft investigation. The special agent asked RHODES to show the USSS where her brother’s belongings were located inside the residence. RHODES took the USSS to a room used for storage and pointed to a laundry basket containing minimal clothing.
The investigation revealed that, in fact, RHODES was aware that her brother stayed in a different room in the home which contained various items of clothing and other possessions purchased by RHODES’s brother. The possessions included a 65-inch flat screen television purchased by RHODES’s brother with a fraudulent credit card. When questioned, RHODES falsely claimed that she had purchased the television. RHODES later admitted to lying to the USSS agent about these and other matters.
At the sentencing in this case, which is presently scheduled for the Aug. 13, 2013 term of court in Greenville, RHODES faces up to five years of imprisonment, up to $250,000 in fines, and as much as three years of supervised release.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the United States Secret Service with the assistance of the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney William M. Gilmore is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
