East St. Louis, Illinois - Four St. Clair County residents are facing federal fraud charges today
after an East St. Louis grand jury returned a five-count indictment against them. Michael
Henderson, 36, of Fairview Heights, Kyetia Hines, 37, of Belleville, Antoinette Z. Davis, 23, of
Cahokia, and Jasmine Davison, 27, of Cahokia, are accused of devising and participating in a scheme
to defraud Sprint stores in the Metro East using stolen identities.
According to the indictment, the four defendants operated their scheme from October 2015 to May
2018, in St. Clair and Madison Counties and elsewhere. They allegedly set up new accounts for
cellular service using the names and social security numbers of other people and then used those
accounts to acquire new cellphones under contract. Instead of using the phones, however, the
defendants allegedly sold them to other cellular retail stores for cash.
The indictment alleges that Henderson worked at a Sprint store in Belleville during the conspiracy
and used his position to help facilitate the fraud. Defendants Hines, Davis, and Davison would
allegedly acquire up to four phones at a time and immediately cancel the accounts after the phones
were acquired. The alleged ringleader of the scheme - Tamecia Buckley, 37, of Cahokia - is also
named in the indictment but was charged separately back in July.
An indictment is merely a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed
to be innocent of a charge until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a
jury.
Buckley has already pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft, among
other charges. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 20. Henderson and Davis appeared in federal
district court yesterday for their initial appearances and pleaded not guilty. Their trial has been
scheduled for Nov. 3. Hines is set to make her initial appearance on Sept. 10. Davison has not yet
been arrested.
Each defendant is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The
conspiracy charge carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory sentence of two years,
which must run consecutively to any other sentence imposed.
The investigation of this case was conducted by the United States Postal Inspection Service
and the Cahokia Police Department.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
