Chicago rapper G Herbo has been charged in Massachusetts for using stolen identities to make illegal purchases. Purchases included trips on personal jets and designer puppies, according to the complaint. While rappers are not known for their white-collar prosecutions, identity theft is a major business in the criminal underworld. The 25-year-old Herbert Wright III is charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and aggravated identity theft. The following will take a look at what prosecutions for these crimes look like.
Who is G Herbo?
G Herbo was recently on The Tonight Show. He grew up in the South Side of Chicago, a neighborhood known as “Terror Town.” His frank lyrics about growing up in Chicago catapulted G Herbo into the forefront of the rap world. Makes you wonder why a guy like that would need to steal identities to fund his purchases of designer puppies and personal jet rides.
The indictment alleges that Herbo, his promoter, and other members of his crew were involved in a scheme to use stolen identities to fund luxury purchases. The crew charged over $1 million in exotic services over a four-year period. Thus far, there are five individuals facing charges. All those who have had arraignments have pleaded “not guilty” to the offenses.
Understanding Fraud Sentencing Guidelines
The federal government uses a point system to determine sentences. While judges can deviate from the chart, they use the chart in around 50% of cases. Fraud has a base point amount of 6 or 7 points. Since the amount stolen was in excess of $400,000, that adds another 14 points, for a total of 21 points. Depending on the criminal history of all those involved, the sentencing chart requires sentences of anywhere between 37 and 96 months.
Aggravated identity theft involves the use of personal identification information to commit theft. Sentencing adds an additional two years to any other crimes charged at the same time. The prosecutor, in this case, will be seeking a sentence of no less than 12 years for the cumulative offenses committed by the defendants.
G Herbo and his crew are facing significant prison time. This comes after G Herbo was named as one of the 30 best new musicians under the age of 30 by Forbes. He also played a recent gig on The Tonight Show with Chance the Rapper.
According to the indictment, G Herbo & Co. got the stolen information from the Dark Web. They shared this information over social media. Police claim that they used the terms “cards, joints, or moves” to refer to the stolen credit card information.
The puppy agency became suspicious and demanded that Herbo mail them via his Instagram account. That is when the scheme fell apart.
Talk to a Chicago Criminal Defense Lawyer
Jammed up by the law? Contact the Chicago criminal defense attorney David Freidberg today at (312) 560-7100 to learn more about how we can help you protect your interests and your future.