Milwaukee, WI: An investigation by Wisconsin police led to the charging of a 25-year-old man from Mississippi with 24 criminal crimes related to a fraud scheme.
According to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, Demarte D. Winters, who is 25 years old, used fake IDs and papers and sold stolen goods.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office on Friday, the plan started to fall apart on March 15 when a deputy from the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office who was assigned to the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport was sent to deal with Winters, who was trying to get through a TSA checkpoint with a fake license from Mississippi.
The answering deputy found Winters in another terminal after he ran away when a TSA officer found out the driver’s license wasn’t real.
After being located, Winters gave the deputy mixed answers when asked about the ID card and his own name. He was then arrested and will be investigated further for obstructing and breaking airport security rules.
More research proved that Winters was who he said he was and showed that he was wanted in Richland County, Louisiana, for aggravated flight, careless operation, and having a gun while a convicted felon.
Over in Madison County, Texas, someone was looking for Winters because he had fake checks and a stolen gun.
When police searched Winters’ backpack at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, they found 155 blank checks with different amounts and people’s names on them, as well as a bank card that didn’t belong to him.
The fake driver’s license number was then linked to a real license holder in Mississippi, who didn’t know her number had been stolen.
Winters robbed several people over the age of 70 and one person over the age of 65. Their checks, which they had left in mailboxes in Milwaukee County, were found in Winters’ bag.
The missing checks were for more than $243,000, according to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office. Reports say that Winters was able to cash 13 checks worth a total of $92,000.
For all 24 charges, the maximum sentence is up to 170 years in jail or a fine of up to $325,000, or both.
Winters is due back in court on May 15 for a preliminary hearing. The amount of his cash bond is $50,000.
