Perry Don Cortese, International Money Laundering and Mail Wire Fra…

A federal jury in Tampa has found Texas attorney Perry Don Cortese, 53, of Little River, Texas, along with Priscilla Ann Ellis, 51, of Killeen, Texas, and Kenietta Rayshawn Johnson, 35, of Leavenworth, Kansas, guilty of conspiracy to commit international money laundering and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Each defendant now faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in federal prison as the fallout from a sprawling, transnational fraud operation comes to a head.

The convictions follow a trial that exposed a ruthless criminal network operating from 2012 to 2015, targeting law firms, title companies, and even lonely hearts on dating websites. Victims were lured with counterfeit cashier’s checks, phony real estate deals, and romantic lies—all designed to funnel money into shell accounts controlled by the conspirators. Once deposited, the funds were rapidly moved through a web of U.S. and overseas accounts before the fraud was detected.

Perry Don Cortese, a licensed Texas attorney, used his legal standing to deepen the scheme’s reach, laundering stolen money through Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTAs). He recruited his own paralegal and others to open accounts used to hide illicit flows. Cortese also personally retrieved cash from withdrawn funds, blurring the line between legal practice and criminal enterprise.

Kenietta Rayshawn Johnson, then a Capital One bank employee, played a critical role by helping create counterfeit checks and monitoring wire movements between conspirator-controlled accounts. Priscilla Ann Ellis was integral to the coordination of shell businesses and the movement of funds across borders. Together, the trio helped orchestrate the transfer of several million dollars in fraudulent wires.

The conspiracy extended far beyond U.S. borders, with co-conspirators in Canada, Nigeria, South Korea, and Senegal helping manage the fraud and laundering operations abroad. Hackers linked to the ring compromised personal and corporate email accounts, issuing fake wire instructions to brokerage and business accounts—stripping victims blind from behind digital masks.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with support from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Toronto Police Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Scruggs and Eric Gerard led the prosecution. Sentencing hearings for Cortese, Ellis, and Johnson will be scheduled at a later date, closing the final chapter on a scheme that exploited trust, technology, and the global financial system.