A Jackson man has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft after opening an account under another person’s name.
According to court documents, 51-year-old Ronald Gardner and his co-conspirator, 45-year-old Anthony Craig Myrick, opened an account at BankPlus in another individual’s name in September 2022.
Both suspects deposited several counterfeit U.S. Treasury checks in the account at various BankPlus branches in the Jackson metro area and withdrew the cash before the checks were determined to be counterfeit.
Gardner later admitted to manufacturing the counterfeit checks and creating a false identification card using another person’s name and identity.
The suspects were indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Mississippi last August. Myrick pleaded guilty back in October and is currently scheduled to be sentenced on March 11. Gardner is set to be sentenced on May 2.
The defendants each face a maximum penalty of 32 years in prison. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
