Related Federal Cases
Atlanta Man Sentenced to 6 Years for ID Theft Racket
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Rodrick Florence Jr., 35, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced in federal court to 72 months in prison after having previously pled guilty to bank fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges.
According to court documents, between 2021 and 2023, Florence possessed the personal identifying information of over 7,500 individuals for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining money from their bank accounts. He worked with others to create fake identification and bank cards bearing real people’s information, which he and his conspirators used to access their account funds.
“This case is an excellent example of how coordination between federal, state, and private stakeholders leads to justice for those in our community whose identities were stolen and the federally insured financial institutions that were defrauded,” said John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
Florence was sentenced to 48 months for the bank fraud conspiracy count to be followed by a mandatory consecutive 24 months for the aggravated identity theft count, for a total prison sentence of 72 months. His conspirators, including Freedom Prince Brown, 32, Ridel Baptiste Michel, 33, James Matthew Spears, 60, and Michelle Moore, 43, were previously convicted in state court as part of this joint investigation.
Navy Federal Credit Union commended the efforts to hold accountable those who defrauded their members, stating, “We fully support the pursuit of justice of the fullest extent permitted by the law.”
The sentence was the result of a joint investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Gulf Breeze Police Department, and the State Attorney’s Office for the First Judicial Circuit, with special assistance from the Navy Federal Credit Union Global Security Investigations team and the Carrollton (Georgia) Police Department.
The federal case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alicia Forbes. The sentence sends a clear message that criminal behavior of this nature will not be tolerated, according to Carrollton Police Department Chief of Police Joel Richards.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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