27-Year-Old Louisiana Man Sentenced to Prison and Ordered to Pay Restitution for Role in Counterfeit Check Cashing Scheme

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Published March 11, 2023

27-Year-Old Louisiana Man Sentenced to Prison and Ordered to Pay Restitution for Role in Counterfeit Check Cashing Scheme

A 27-year-old Louisiana man has been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution for his role in a counterfeit check cashing scheme.

Shreveport, Louisiana – United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Anthony E. Johnson, 27, of Shreveport, Louisiana, has been sentenced for his involvement in a counterfeit check cashing scheme. Johnson was sentenced by United States District Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. to 30 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $110,773 in restitution.

According to evidence presented in court, Anthony Johnson plotted with Carlos A. Spann and Phelix Williams, both of Shreveport, in 2017 and 2018 to cash counterfeit checks using false identities at banks and retail outlets around Louisiana. Spann gave Johnson and Williams altered overlays for identification cards, as well as counterfeit checks made on Tower Loan’s bank account and a U.S. Postal Service bank account. Surveillance video cameras caught all of these fraudulent transactions.

Johnson entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court on January 17, 2019. Johnson was instructed by the court to comply with the conditions of the United States Probation Office in connection with his pretrial supervised release and was allowed to stay on bond until his sentencing hearing on May 1, 2019. Johnson failed to comply with the terms of his pretrial supervision, and a warrant for his arrest was issued in March 2019. Officials with the Shreveport Police Department arrested Johnson on an unrelated charge in September 2022 and learned of the warrant for Johnson. He was returned to the United States Marshal’s custody to face the charges in this case.

The case was investigated by the US Secret Service, the Shreveport Police Department, and the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, and it was prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Brian C. Flanagan and Special Counsel to the US Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook.