PITTSBURGH, PA - Two residents of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
The six-count Indictment named Anthony Costanzo, age 31, of Carnegie, Pennsylvania and Durrell Waters, age 37, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
According to the indictment, Costanzo and Waters were charged in eleven counts for conspiring with others to sell stolen goods through their business, called Trader Electronics, which sold used electronics and a wide variety of drug store type health and beauty aids and over the counter medications over the internet. Costanzo and Waters were charged with a criminal conspiracy, a wire fraud scheme for delivering stolen goods through the mail and receiving the proceeds through electronic funds transfers and money laundering with regard to their handling of the proceeds of the stolen goods.
The law provides for a maximum sentence of up to five years for the conspiracy count, up to 20 years on each wire fraud count and up to 10 years on each money laundering count. The statutes each also carry a fine provision of up to $250,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
The Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case. Police departments from the City of Pittsburgh, Ross Township and Shaler Township also assisted in the overall investigation.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
