Clyde Austin Gray Jr., 52 of Waldorf, pled guilty today to being a ringleader in a nationwide identity theft ring that has resulted in a total loss of more than $2.1 million involving at least 10 financial institutions.

Gray pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and sentencing has been set for Sept. 28. Gray faces a maximum penalty of thirty years’ imprisonment. Nine other co-conspirators have been charged to date in this scheme, and one has pled guilty.

In a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Gray admitted to leading a nationwide conspiracy to steal money from individuals and financial institutions. Gray paid other co-conspirators to pickpocket, steal and compromise the personal identification and bank account information of victims, and then used the information to make counterfeit driver’s licenses and military identification cards. Gray distributed the fake IDs, along with counterfeit checks drawn on the victims’ bank accounts and other bank account information, to other co-conspirators.

According to court records, Gray directed others in the scheme to use the IDs and stolen bank information to impersonate victims and make split deposit transactions – depositing a check drawn on the bank account of another victim, and then siphoning the money out of the falsely inflated account. His co-conspirators returned a percentage of the stolen money to Gray, who in turn distributed some of the proceeds to other co-conspirators. In his statement of facts, Gray admitted that the total fraud loss, including intended loss, attributed to his actions is more than $2.1 million.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the United States Postal Inspection Service.  Assistant United States Attorney Timothy D. Belevetz and Special Assistant United States Attorney Karen Servidea are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.