BOSTON – A Florida man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with the fraudulent abuse of the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) Informed Delivery electronic notification system, and in connection with FEMA fraud.
Kevens Louis, 26, of Plantation, Fla., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 27 months in prison and one year of supervised release. In June 2019, Louis pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Louis and his co-conspirators, Fred Alcius, Lucson Appolon, and Peter Belony were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in April 2019. Appolon and Belony previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to two years in prison and three years of supervised release. Alcius remains a fugitive.
Informed Delivery is a free electronic notification service provided by the USPS that gives residential and P.O. Box customers the ability to digitally preview their incoming mail and manage their packages.
The defendants accessed victims’ personal identifying information, including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and addresses on the “dark web” and then used the information to open credit cards in the victims’ names. The defendants then subscribed to Informed Delivery using the victims’ personal identifying information and a fraudulent email address created to track the delivery of credit cards to the victims’ residential mailboxes. The defendants subsequently intercepted the credit cards at mailboxes before the victims could receive them. The credit cards were then used by the defendants at ATMs and to purchase gift cards and other items for resale at retail establishments. The defendants traveled to states across the East Coast in furtherance of the fraud, including New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.
Louis’s sentencing also resolved charges initially brought by the Southern District of Florida involving fraud in connection with a major disaster and aggravated identity theft. Specifically, on various occasions in 2017, Louis fraudulently submitted claims to FEMA for assistance.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida; Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office; Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and the Concord, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.), Harvard, Kittery (Maine), Norfolk, Plantation (Fla.) Sherborn, and Weston Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie A. Queenin of Lelling’s Cybercrime Unit prosecuted the case.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The remaining defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
