In Mobile, Alabama, a significant legal event took place on Friday. Sean Donnell White, a 30-year-old from Mobile, faced the consequences of his actions. In March 2023, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Later that year, in December, he also pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

Judge's Sentencing and Defense Attorney's Perspective

U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose handed down a sentence. She sentenced White to a year and eight months in prison for each fraud charge in the two cases and ordered them to be served concurrently. Additionally, she added an extra year for the identity theft charge, resulting in a total of two years and eight months. Defense attorney Brian Dasinger emphasized that White has a wife in the Navy and a 4-year-old daughter. He stated that they are satisfied with the outcome as White has no prior criminal history and has taken responsibility for his conduct. Dasinger also mentioned that White's behavior before and after these charges has been exemplary.

First Fraud Conspiracy Case

White admitted to using a so-called arrow key, a device accessible to postal workers, to access mailboxes. Along with others, he stole mail and searched for checks. These checks were then used to produce forged and counterfeit checks, which were deposited in banks. The fraud in this case amounted to tens of thousands of dollars, as per court records. Law enforcement officers arrested him after a high-speed chase on November 1, 2022. During the chase, he drove through several stop signs and parking lots before heading east on Airport Boulevard. The chase ended in front of a house on Emogene Street, as stated in his written plea document.

Such illegal activities not only caused financial losses but also violated the trust of the banking system and the public. The use of such means to obtain money through fraudulent means is a serious offense that undermines the integrity of financial transactions.

It is crucial to hold individuals like White accountable for their actions to maintain the stability and security of the financial environment.

Second Fraud Conspiracy Case

In the second case, White admitted to obtaining more than $200,000 through a "sophisticated" scheme from December 2020 to about March 2022. The "Coinbase scam" began with the purchase of stolen identities from dark web marketplaces. For each stolen identity, he opened a bank account and an account with Coinbase, an online platform for trading cryptocurrency.

He chose banks that allowed customers to overdraw their accounts by up to $35,000. He would withdraw cash up to this limit and deposit it in the Coinbase account to make cryptocurrency trades. If the trades went poorly, the bank bore the loss. If he made a profit, he would resettle the overdrawn account and then transfer the profits to different accounts he controlled.

An example from August 2021 illustrates this. White created a Coinbase account and a PNC Business bank account, along with a PayPal account using the actual details of a person named G.B. He overdrew the bank account by $35,000 and transferred the money to the Coinbase account in G.B.'s name. He used this account to buy cryptocurrency and then traded it. He made money from the transaction and transferred $1,000 in August 2021 from the Coinbase account to the PayPal account in the same victim's name. From there, he transferred the money to his own PayPal account and then to his personal bank account at JP Morgan Chase. White obtained at least $210,000 in fraudulently obtained proceeds, according to the plea agreement.