NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Two Virginia musicians who call themselves the “Rich Felons” and a friend are accused of using stolen personal information and checks stolen from mailboxes to defraud Virginia banks out of nearly $36,000, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
One defendant, Wilbert Bouldin, 25, of Richmond, entered a plea deal, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a news release.
Bouldin pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and illegal possession of a firearm on Thursday, according to the release.
He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years and a maximum sentence of 42 years in prison when he is sentenced on Aug. 26, according to federal prosecutors.
Bouldin’s musical partner in the “Rich Felons,” Lil Warren T.M. Jackson, was also named in a federal indictment, The News & Observer of Roanoke reported. Also indicted was Deshawn D. Mobley of North Carolina, according to the newspaper.
Bouldin has six prior felony convictions for fraud, firearm, and drug offenses, prosecutors said. He was ordered to remain in jail after he was arrested in March. His attorney refused to comment after the deal was announced.
A grand jury indicted Bouldin, Jackson and Mobley on Feb. 1, according to court documents.
According to the news release, from around October 2020 through January 2021, Bouldin and at least two other men conspired to defraud banks. The trio used a stolen driver’s license and Social Security card of an identity theft victim to negotiate thousands of dollars in counterfeit and stolen checks at banks in Williamsburg, Gloucester, Newport News, Hampton, and Richmond, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, the deposits totaled $9,728.80, The News & Observer reported.
Bouldin and Jackson later opened bank accounts in their names and deposited a stolen check for $26,046.41 into one of the accounts, according to the indictment.
When officers tried to arrest Bouldin, he fled but was subsequently arrested, WAVY-TV reported. Police said Bouldin had a semi-automatic handgun in his possession when he was arrested, according to the television station.
The cases against Jackson and Mobley are ongoing,
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