Atlanta Identity Thieves Sentenced to Prison

Two Atlanta residents who participated in a scheme to steal the identities of students at Emory University and UGA in order to take out fraudulent student loans have been sentenced to federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division reports.

Maario Coleman, 28, will spend the next four years and nine months in prison and must pay $52,000 in restitution. His accomplice, 43-year-old Angela Russell was sentenced to 2 years in prison and must pay $26,000 in restitution.

According to the FBI and prosecutors, Coleman obtained the names of 100 members of Emory University’s law and medical Classes of 2013, and five names from UGA’s law Class of 2013. He acquired partial dates of birth and Social Security numbers for the graduates, then passed the info along to Russell, who had access to credit reporting databases through her work.

With the personal information of the students, Coleman was able to apply for over $400,000 of medical residency and post-graduate bar exam loans from Discover Bank, and had the funds routed to accounts set up in the names of the victims. The scheme generated $52,000 in fraudulent money before it was discovered and stopped.

On May 13, 2014, Coleman pleaded guilty to charges of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft.

“This elaborate and aggressive scheme to defraud targeted not only those students at Emory University and the University of Georgia, but also Discover Bank and serves as an example of the harm that can be caused by several well placed individuals using their access and others’ personal information in this manner,” said J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Atlanta Field Office.