A fraud suspect has been sentenced to federal prison for a series of crimes at local banks.
The court sentenced Gary Dale Thrasher, 56, from Georgia, to four years and nine months in federal prison for bank fraud, passport fraud, and aggravated identity theft. As part of his sentencing, the court issued a forfeiture order for $25,200 to cover his crimes. Thrasher pleaded guilty earlier this year.
Thrasher obtained and used, or attempted to use, counterfeit identification credentials, including fraudulent United States passport cards, that contained personal information about others. Thrasher utilized the forged identification documents to take funds from the victims’ accounts at several branches of four different federally insured banking institutions in the Middle District of Florida.
Thrasher walked to Citizens First Bank at Magnolia Plaza, produced identification with an account holder’s name, and withdrew $1,500, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. The genuine account holder called the bank the following day to question the removal of the money. The bank confirmed that the caller was indeed the account holder and promptly contacted law enforcement. Wildwood police issued a bulletin, and other law enforcement agencies swiftly provided information identifying Thrasher, who is a suspect in similar crimes in their counties. The cashier recognized Thrasher from a photo lineup. Trasher returned a few days later to United Southern Bank on Main Street in Wildwood, where he took $4,500 using a fake ID. Thrasher withdrew $8,200 from Insight Credit Union on State Road 44 in Wildwood on the same day he went to Citizens First Bank, according to police. He used a forged ID and pretended to be an account holder.
“Identity theft is not a victimless crime, and these fraud schemes undermine the trust in our financial systems and damage the lives of innocent people,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Orlando Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Pezzutti. “HSI, alongside our state and local partners in Florida, are committed to seeking these fraudsters out and holding them accountable for their actions.”
Homeland Security Investigations, the Ocala Police Department, the Wildwood Police Department, the Leesburg Police Department, and the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office all conducted investigations into this case. Sarah Janette Swartzberg, an Assistant US Attorney, prosecuted the case.