SACRAMENTO—Six people have been sentenced on felony fraud charges for their roles in a major cell phone scam against Verizon, totaling more than half a million dollars.
The scam—which occurred in May 2013—included at least three Verizon Wireless employees. Detectives discovered they had accessed consumer account information to identify customers with high-end cellphones, and filed insurance claims for than 1,300 damaged or stolen phones. Replacement phones were reportedly shipped to three conspirators at their homes or hotels. However, detectives discerned that there was no indication that consumer identities or personal account information were stolen or used by suspects.
Louis Lovett, 31; Aleta Pinkney, 33; Nicholas Brown, 27; Antonio Miller, 26; Anthony Stanford, 26; and Adi Qalivutu, 23, were arrested by California Department of Insurance detectives and Los Angeles Police Department officers in May 2013. All were recently sentenced to varying prison and probation terms.
Antonio Miller, Anthony Stanford, and Adi Qalivutu
Lovett—the mastermind behind the scheme—was ordered to repay the entire fraud loss amount of approximately $635,000 to Asurion, the mobile protection insurance company that was defrauded. The others have also been held for ensuring the restitution is paid.
All six pleaded no contest to multiple felony counts of insurance fraud. Lovett was sentenced to a six-year jail term, plus four years’ probation, while co-conspirators Pinkney, Miller, Stanford and Qalivutu received one-year sentences. Brown, the sixth co-conspirator, was arrested in Southern California and sentenced to a two-year jail term.
