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Fourth bank fraud participant sentenced By DANI DODGE The fourth in a 12-member bank fraud ring pleaded guilty Monday in Jackson County Court. Luis Armando Mesta, 27, of Medford, admitted to cashing a forged $16,000 check from a Portland-based golf company at Washington Mutual Bank in Medford on Dec. 14, 1999. He was sentenced to 18 months probation, 40 hours of community service and ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution. But Mesta was a small fish in a big conspiracy, prosecutors and police say. In fact, this was his first conviction ever. Mesta got caught up in a racketeering case in which janitors and other employees at companies as far north as Seattle and as far east as Spokane stole business checks or account information and enticed others like Mesta to cash those checks after they were forged. Mesta and the other check cashers got about $1,000 each. The fraud ring allegedly passed or tried to pass off 10 checks in Jackson County from Oct. 22, 1999, to Jan. 4 2001, for amounts ranging from $7,500 to $28,000. Medford Detective Sue Campbell said the 12 arrests were the culmination of a year and a half of investigation. "Basically, what started it was a reporting bank saw some problems and called me," she said. "We started linking the cases together because of similarities , it just grew." Deputy District Attorney Matthew McCauley said this is the third such scam he's prosecuted. "Your average bank robbery is $5,000," he noted. "Your average check cashing scam is $100,000." McCauley estimated that this fraud ring cashed checks totaling between $75,000 and $150,000 and that was only in Jackson County. They also were operating to the north. McCauley said the ringleaders in the plot were Carl Lendell Barr, 49, of Portland, and Erwin Henry Johnson, 53, of Medford, who did most of the recruiting here in Medford. The duo are awaiting trial. "They were going after people hard up after money, single moms and people who really needed the money right now," McCauley said. As they pleaded guilty, those who cashed the forged checks, like Mesta, agreed to testify against Barr and Johnson. The checks or account information were stolen from companies like car dealerships or insurance companies: places where large checks wouldn't raise suspicion. McCauley said that, typically, a deposit would be made, then a few days later the money would be withdrawn. McCauley said those who cashed the checks knew what they were doing was wrong. "There's no reason why someone should have a large dollar amount check deposited in another person's name," McCauley said. "There's no reason someone can't get a bank account. Anyone telling you that is basically telling you a lie." Others who have pleaded guilty in the case include Melida Mezta-Ortiz, 23, of White City (second-degree theft); Teresa Eileen Reiser, 43, of Medford (racketeering); Kennard Williams, 48, of White City (first-degree forgery). Others arrested in connection with the fraud ring include Peter Calvin Bowman, 44; James Douglas Hester, 53; Debra Kay Burden 45; Valerie Louise Dodson, 28; Tammie Marie Bolling, 26, and Denise Renee Headley, 40, all of Medford. Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.