Michigan woman sentenced for fraud and identity theft in Nebraska

A Michigan woman was sentenced for fraud and identity theft at several Nebraskan stores on Monday.

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced today that on July 26, 2019, United States District Court Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced 32-year-old Mechelle Anna Major of Clinton Township, Michigan, to 31 months’ imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release for fraudulent use of social security numbers and aggravated identity theft. There is no parole in the federal system.

Major, using stolen identifications of credit worthy actual people, in October 2018 at the Viaero cellphone retail stores in Norfolk and Wayne, Nebraska, purchased and attempted to purchase high-end cellphones. Major provided high-quality counterfeit driver’s licenses and social security numbers of actual people to the Viaero stores for the purpose of qualifying for credit to purchase the cellphones.

Upon Major’s arrest on October 25, 2018 at the Viaero store in Wayne, additional sets of counterfeit identification documents were found in her purse. Currently there are outstanding warrants for Major in the States of Kentucky and Colorado for similar criminal conduct related to identity thefts.

This case was investigated by the Office of Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Wayne Police Department, Nebraska.