Two South Florida Women Sentenced to Federal Prison for Roles In Orchestrating Credit Card Fraud Conspiracy

 Miami, FL – Two south Florida women were sentenced yesterday for their roles in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain credit cards that they and other individuals used to purchase over $100,000 of personal cosmetic services.

Sheena Ceasar, 35, of Coconut Creek, and Dekita Bellamy, 37, of Coral Springs, were each sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman to terms of imprisonment of 44 months and 32 months, respectively, with each term of imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release.  Judge Altman ordered forfeiture and restitution of $82,151.50 as to Ceasar and $94,968 as to Bellamy.  Both defendants previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, as charged in an indictment.

Bellamy and Ceasar carried out the conspiracy by purloining personally identifiable information (PII) of unsuspecting victims, including names, social security numbers, and dates of birth, to apply for and receive credit cards.  In addition to using the credit cards to purchase cosmetic services for themselves, defendants reaped ill-gotten gains by supplying the cards to co-conspirators so they could purchase expensive cosmetic services in exchange for a fee, which was typically half the value of the desired service.  Seven other co-conspirators have been charged with, and pleaded guilty to, federal felonies in connection with this criminal activity:

• Shenika Denise Myers, 37, of Lauderhill, Florida pleaded guilty on September 3, 2021 to aggravated identity theft and is awaiting sentencing.
• Sayyada Samira Whiters, 33, of Coconut Creek, Florida, pleaded guilty on August 13, 2021 to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft and is awaiting sentencing.
• Trenasha Lashay Johnson, 36, of Cape Coral, Florida pleaded guilty to August 3, 2021 to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft and is awaiting sentencing.
• Janiqua Oliphant, 31, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and was sentenced on October 14, 2020 to 24 months’ imprisonment.
• Sheena White, 35, of Pompano Beach, Florida pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and was sentenced on September 24, 2020 to 24 months’ imprisonment.
• Nikki Butler, 40, of Pompano Beach, Florida pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and was sentenced on September 15, 2020 to time served with 3 years of supervised release that included 360 days of home detention.
• Lucretia Ford, 31, of Coconut Creek, Florida pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and was sentenced on June 3, 2020 to 3 years’ probation.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.  USSS Miami investigated the cases, with assistance from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Snider is prosecuting the cases.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 19-cr-60380 (United States v. Dekita Bellamy et al.), 21-cr-60063 (United States v. Shenika Denise Myers), 21-cr-60062 (United States v. Sayyada Samira Whiters), 20-cr-60079 (United States v. Trenasha Lashay Johnson), 19-cr-60361 (United States v. Sheena White),19-cr-60356 (United States v. Nikki Butler), and 19-cr-60357 (United States v. Lucretia Ford).