Photo credit: Georgia DOC

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama says that two Georgia based inmates are involved in a multi-state scam.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">JUST IN: 2 Georgia prison inmates charged in Alabama jury duty scam <a href="https://t.co/sTk7CmPphA">https://t.co/sTk7CmPphA</a></p>— carol robinson (@RobinsonCarol) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobinsonCarol/status/898220241377001473">August 17, 2017</a></blockquote>

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The Metro Area Crime Center of Jefferson County states that the two inmates were the lead operators behind a jury duty scam in which targeted multiple innocent victims in multiple regions.

Investigators allege that the departments of Hoover police, Vestavia police, and Trussville police, as well as agents from the United States Secret Service, all worked on this investigation.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SCAM Warning: It's the missed jury duty/warrant for your arrest scam via phone. Don't become a victim! Read more:<a href="https://t.co/np28yFyquc">https://t.co/np28yFyquc</a> <a href="https://t.co/spLJsDvlbz">pic.twitter.com/spLJsDvlbz</a></p>— Hoover Police Dept (@HooverPD) <a href="https://twitter.com/HooverPD/status/898193136245145600">August 17, 2017</a></blockquote>

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The scam was a well thought out crime, where the victim receives a phone call from a person who claims to be an investigator with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, or another respective local law enforcement agency.

Once they're on the line, the criminals tell the victims (under the guise of being law enforcement) that they have failed to report to jury duty and a warrant has been issued for their arrest.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Franklin County Sheriff's Office warning of jury duty scam <a href="https://t.co/JDxas0wYr2">https://t.co/JDxas0wYr2</a> <a href="https://t.co/9QUOJzIdZC">pic.twitter.com/9QUOJzIdZC</a></p>— KSDK News (@ksdknews) <a href="https://twitter.com/ksdknews/status/897028802840317952">August 14, 2017</a></blockquote>

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The suspects then lies to the victim and states that the warrant can be cleared up any future arrest of the victim can easily be avoided if they will send money to an unspecified account to clear their name of any charges.

Victims are told to purchase preloaded and prepaid debit cards, at which time they are instructed to contact the suspects with their respective account numbers.

The amounts paid in the scheme have ranged between $700 and $1000. Once they call in the numbers and make a payment, they are instructed to go to the Sheriff’s Office and obtain a release form.

One of the victims was given specific directions to the Sheriff’s Office that included turning on “Gotya” Street. The brazen acts of these criminals show they have zero respect for the law.

Investigators say that through obtaining information on the phone numbers used to call the victims, they were able to locate the suspects in order to further investigate each of them.

Through a series of legal search warrants that law enforcement obtained, multiple interviews with those believed to be involved in the crimes, and other investigative techniques which they prefer to keep classified; the MACC were able to track the scammers back to a point of origin which was shockingly inside of a Georgia prison.

Investigators from the Metro Area Crime Center (MACC) which is an agency made up of over fifteen individual law enforcement branches, alongside the United States Secret Service traveled to Georgia and interviewed victims who they believed were targeted in the scam.

According to the coalition of law enforcement the two Georgia convicts were believed to be responsible for pushing the orchestration of the scam phone calls to victims.

They plotted and ran the crime from behind bars where they would use family members outside the prison collect the money and put it into their accounts.

31 year old Larry Victor Younger, and 40 year old Johnny Elway Chandler, both of Georgia, are now charged with first-degree extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion.

The investigation is ongoing and has led law enforcement to suspects in other states as well. Other suspects have been identified and additional charges are expected in the near future.

Source:

http://m.wbrc.com/myfoxal/db/330638/content/5TmPhU8r/gallery

—<i>[email protected]</i>

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