Man gets federal prison sentence for ‘grandparent scam’; 4 more defendants to be sentenced

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Federal officials say one of a handful of the people behind a nationwide “grandparent scam” has been sentenced.

Jasuan Pope, the first of the five architects of the nationwide scam to steal money from elderly people has been sentenced to over eight years in federal prison, according to the Department of Justice.

Pope was convicted of mail fraud and money laundering offenses.

Investigators have identified more than $680,000 worth of losses to at least 68 victims in the scheme commonly known as the “grandparent scam.”

“These sophisticated criminal organizations exploit the elderly by preying on the love and commitment they have for their families,” United States Attorney Zachary Myers said in a statement. “These heinous frauds wreak immeasurable financial and emotional harm on victims to satisfy the greed of networks of criminals. Our office will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute scammers who seek to take advantage of vulnerable members of our community.”

What is the “grandparent scam”?

According to court documents, in April 2020, Pope, Darlens Rendard, Princess Elizer, Jennifer Glemeau and Kareem Brown conspired to defraud and obtain money from elderly people across the U.S. 

The plan required the defendants, posing as criminal defense attorneys, to call senior citizens and claim their relative, such as a grandchild, was in serious trouble and in need of immediate funds.

Victims were then instructed to send a specified amount of money to an address given to them by the defendants. Typically these addresses were of unoccupied homes. 

After the money was sent, the defendants retrieved the packages, counted the money and received their portion of the proceeds. 

The defendants traveled to at least nine cities in the U.S. to retrieve the payments and spent approximately one week in each location.

How were the defendants caught? 

On Aug. 19, 2020, Sgt. Scott Brimer of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department received a call from officer Niell Bohlin of the Orleans Police Department in Orleans, Mass.

Bohlin told Brimer about an 81-year-old victim who had been instructed two days prior, by a person reportedly legally representing her grandniece, to send $9,000 to an Indianapolis residential address near 27th Street and Tacoma Avenue on the city’s northeast side.

The caller claimed her grandniece was involved in a car accident and was in need of medical care and legal assistance. 

The victim agreed to send the money to Indianapolis. 

Soon after, the victim received another caller from the person reportedly legally representing her grandniece. The caller said her first payment was received and the case was proceeding well, but that they were in need of another $9,000 payment sent to the same address. 

At the same time, the victim made contact with her grandniece and learned she had not been in a car accident. 

The victim then contacted the Orleans Police Department. Bohlin instructed the victim to send another package to the same address, but to fill the package with magazines, and not cash. Bohlin then contacted IMPD. 

Having received this information, IMPD conducted surveillance at the Indianapolis address the next day. 

The package was delivered to the home and minutes later IMPD witnessed two of the defendants take the package from the porch of the residence, place it in their car, and drive away. 

IMPD followed the vehicle for several minutes before stopping it.

The defendants stated they were in town looking for houses to purchase when they saw the package on the porch and decided to steal it. 

Both were arrested and transported to an IMPD station for further questioning. 

Upon being interviewed, the defendants revealed the address of the Airbnb they were residing at in Indianapolis. 

IMPD obtained a search warrant for that address and executed the search. 

Officers found another of the eventual defendants staying in the home, along with $8,360, several cell phones, computers and a piece of paper with several addresses located in Indianapolis; it was later determined the addresses on the paper pertained to other potential victims. 

Additionally, five packages sent by victims were found in the home. 

The three defendants present, Pope, Elizer and Glemeau, were arrested for fraud/theft charges. Elizer and Glemeau bonded out a few days after their arrest, while Pope was held on an extraditable warrant for elder fraud and failure-to-appear charges out of Sumner County, Tenn.

Who are the victims? 

Officers contacted each of the senders of the packages found during the search of the defendants Airbnb.

Four of the five senders were over 80-years-old and lived in five different states across the U.S. 

What is next?

Aside from Pope’s sentencing, the Southern District of Indiana says the other four defendants are awaiting sentencing after agreeing to plea deals.