Ten Ohio Residents Charged in Wire Fraud Conspiracy

Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, today announced that a federal grand jury returned a 102-count indictment charging the crimes of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft, against Clifford J. Smith, aka CJ, age 24, of Youngstown, Ohio; Musa Nassar, age 23, of Warren, Ohio; Jon Foster, age 30, of Warren, Ohio; Donte Stewart, age 27, of Canton, Ohio; Billy St. Clair, age 21, of Youngstown, Ohio; Adam Bailey, age 24, of Southington, Ohio; Tyme Hammond, age 24, of Canfield, Ohio; Kevin Moses, age 23, of Columbiana, Ohio; Kelvan Elkins, age 23, of Youngstown, Ohio, and Jason Martin, age 33, of Youngstown, Ohio.

The indictment alleges that from on or about June 9, 2007, to on or about June 23, 2011, Clifford J. Smith, Musa Nassar, Jon Foster, Donte Stewart, Billy St. Clair, Adam Bailey, Tyme Hammond, Kevin Moses, Kelvan Elkins, and Jason Martin, engaged in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud, by fraudulently obtaining cellular telephones which were then sold to innocent buyers on the Internet through the E-bay auction website, with payments processed by PayPal and payable to the defendants. All of the defendants are charged with several counts of wire fraud, in addition to the charge of conspiracy. Clifford J. Smith, Musa Nassar, Donte Stewart, Jon Foster, Kelvan Elkins, and Jason Martin, are also charged with Mail Fraud. Clifford J. Smith, and Donte Stewart, are also charged with aggravated identity theft. The indictment also includes charges of bank fraud against Clifford J. Smith, and Jon Foster.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal records, if any, the defendants’ roles in the offenses and the characteristics of the violations. In all cases, the sentences will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

The indictment was presented to the grand jury by Assistant United States Attorney Blas E. Serrano.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.