Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Urban Oshea, II, age 48, of Florence, South Carolina, was sentenced in federal court in Florence, for Conspiracy to Manufacture and Pass Counterfeit Securities, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. United States District Judge Bryan Harwell sentenced Oshea to 15 months’ imprisonment followed by 3 years supervised release. Oshea was also ordered to pay over $31,000 in restitution to victims of the fraud.
The evidence presented the guilty plea hearing established that during the period from August 2015 through January of 2016, Oshea and others were involved in a conspiracy to manufacture and pass counterfeit securities (checks) of organizations.
The co-conspirators would make counterfeit checks using genuine bank account and routing numbers they obtained from checks they stole out of mailboxes in Horry and Georgetown Counties.
The defendant would then use fraudulent driver's licenses bearing his photograph but in other persons' names which matched the names on the counterfeit checks, to pass these counterfeit checks at various businesses.
The defendant would use the checks to purchase merchandise at one store, then he would go to another store in the same chain and exchange the merchandise for cash.
The case was investigated by officers of the Horry County Police Department and agents of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorney A. Bradley Parham of the Florence office handled the case. ##
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
