FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.-A federal criminal complaint has been unsealed charging three Florida men affiliated with the “Felony Lane Gang" national criminal organization for their roles in a bank fraud scheme targeting female victims in the Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area.
Delvin Mills, 26, and Treveon Jordan, 22, both of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, and Damian Fletcher, 26, of Fort Lauderdale, each face charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
According to the complaint, Mills, Jordan, and Fletcher are members of the Felony Lane Gang, an interstate criminal organization based in Florida that travels to locations throughout the U.S. to commit vehicle break-in and fraud sprees.
Members of the organization appear to target female victims who leave their purses, wallets, and valuables in parked vehicles. After victims exit their vehicles-often to drop off children, run errands, or visit a gym-Felony Lane Gang members quickly break into the vehicle, steal targeted items, and drive away. After stealing purses or wallets, the gang members quickly deploy associates to conduct fraudulent bank or merchant transactions using stolen forms of identification, checks, and credit or debit cards before the victim can alert financial institutions.
The local investigation began after a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) learned of a vehicle break-in and theft in Tigard, Oregon. Witnesses allege seeing a man break into a vehicle, steal a victim’s wallet and belongings, and flee in a Jeep Compass sport utility vehicle. During a review of records, Tualatin Police Department, the responding law enforcement agency, learned Jordan had rented the Jeep at Portland International Airport (PDX) one week before the break-in.
With this information, the HSI Special Agent located video surveillance footage of Jordan renting and returning the Jeep at PDX. Jordan appeared to rent the vehicle by himself and return it with two other individuals later identified as Mills and Fletcher. After returning the vehicle, Jordan and Fletcher boarded a flight from PDX to Denver, Colorado. To date, investigators do not know what flight Mills boarded or if he was flying under an assumed name.
The HSI Special Agent later learned that the Jeep had been parked at motel in Northeast Portland during Jordan’s rental period. Further investigation revealed that Mills and Jordan were frequent visitors and usually stayed with an older female. Mills, Jordan and the female, later identified as Linda Marie Lupo, 51, of Deerfield, Florida, had rented rooms at the motel on eight prior occasions over a period of five months.
As the investigation unfolded, HSI began linking the group and the Jeep Compass rental vehicle to numerous unsolved car thefts and instances of bank fraud throughout the Portland area. Lupo and another linked individual, Megan Spurlock, 25, a Washington State resident, were identified as associates of the gang responsible for conducting fraudulent bank and merchant transactions using victims’ stolen bank cards and identification.
To date, this investigation has identified 32 car thefts committed during Mills, Jordan, and Fletcher’s most recent known Oregon crime spree. The thefts occurred in Lake Oswego, West Linn, Tualatin, Clackamas, Happy Valley, Salem, Corvallis, Albany, Springfield, and Beaverton, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. In one instance, a handgun was stolen and has not been recovered. The estimated total loss to victims, including banks, during this crime spree exceeds $100,000.
Jordan and Fletcher were arrested on March 9, 2020 in Florida and made their first appearances in federal court in Fort Lauderdale the same day. Detention hearings for both will be held on March 12, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale. Mills is in custody in Florida where he faces local charges. He is expected to make his first appearance in federal court and be transferred to the District of Oregon at a later date.
Lupo and Spurlock are charged with multiple counts of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in a separate criminal case. Both are in custody and awaiting a four-day jury trial scheduled to begin on April 14, 2020.
This case was investigated by HSI with assistance from the West Linn Police Department, Tualatin Police Department, and Clark County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Quinn P. Harrington, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
A criminal complaint is only an accusation of a crime, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of the department at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
