Who Is the 'Felony Lane Gang?'

WESTON, MA - Weston Police Thursday began circulating an image of a woman wanted in connection with a string of area car break-ins earlier this year.

Within a day officers hit pay dirt; they had identified the elusive woman who cashed $6,500 worth of checks belonging to a Weston resident.

Of course, it's hard to stay hidden while being sought by police in three states.

Kimberly Phillips, 30, is one of hundreds of alleged members of the Felony Lane Gang, a syndicate of vagrants, drug addicts and prostitutes participating in fraudulent scams nationwide. Phillips, an Amherst, NH, native, also has addresses in Florida where the gang is based, according to Weston Detective Sgt. Mike Forti.

In addition to the Weston break-ins, several associates of the Felony Lane Gang, including Phillips, are believed to be connected to crimes in Pelham, NH, Salem, NH, Waltham, Braintree, Foxborough and towns in Connecticut.

The gang is a loose conglomerate of people in hopeless situations, recruited by ranking members who mastermind the schemes and reap the profits. So far they have netted more than $1 million from victims up and down the East Coast.

"People pulled in are usually in destitute situations," Forti said. "Drug addicts, or people just looking to make a quick buck. They cash the checks and get a couple hundred dollars." Forti said the rest is sent up to the higher ranks.

"Smash-and-grab" car break-ins are their modus operandi; they pull up next to a car, either open an unlocked door or break a window, grab all valuables in plain sight, and then they're gone.

"It's all over with in a matter of seconds," Forti said.

The thieves then use the stolen credit cards, driver's licenses, checks and bank information to withdraw as much as possible. They go to great lengths to blend in while carrying out their scams, sometimes renting a car, buying nice clothes and wearing a wig in an effort to look more like the person in the driver's license picture.

When at the bank they frequently use the lane furthest from the building in order to remain invisible to tellers and security cameras, a practice that earned them the name "Felony Lane Gang."

Law enforcement across the country has been cracking down on the fraudsters as patterns turn up in their movements; for example, after breaking into cars in one state, the thieves travel to another state to defraud the banks. Once they start breaking into cars in that state, they come back to the original state to execute the scam.

Weston Police believe that is how Phillips ended up in Connecticut from Massachusetts.

Last month police in Florida apprehended one of the alleged masterminds behind a series of Pennsylvania break-ins, weeks after he escaped capture in that state.

And in February the Justice Department indicted 13 alleged members in a $1 million Maryland-area conspiracy.

According to the 27-count indictment, they had been actively recruiting and running scams since 2012 while traveling between Maryland and Florida.