Willie Smith, 34, Daryl Pugh, 42, Lloyd Scott, 28, and Naomie Maitre, 39—all of North Miami—have been convicted in a sprawling identity theft ring that victimized more than 380 people across Florida. The crew broke into cars parked at gas stations, day care centers, and churches, ransacking purses for personal documents to fuel a relentless fraud operation.
Stolen property included credit cards, debit cards, social security cards, legal permanent resident cards, health insurance cards, Florida bar cards, passports, cell phones, and sunglasses. The data lifted from these items was used to commit aggravated identity theft and financial fraud on a massive scale, according to court records from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Smith, Pugh, and Scott all pled guilty to conspiracy charges tied to the identity theft ring. On January 13, 2017, Maitre was convicted by jury on multiple counts: conspiracy to possess 15 or more access devices, possession of those devices with intent to commit fraud, and two separate counts of aggravated identity theft.
U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro sentenced both Smith and Scott to 94 months in federal prison. Maitre and Pugh are set for sentencing on March 27, 2017, at 11:00 a.m. before the same judge. Christopher Simpson, 35, also of North Miami, remains awaiting trial; his case is still pending.
The investigation was led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, with critical support from the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD). U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer praised the agencies for dismantling a network that turned stolen IDs into criminal currency.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cary O. Aronovitz and Daya Nathan are prosecuting the case. Court documents are available via the Southern District of Florida’s public portal at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or through PACER at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov. An indictment is not a conviction—each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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