NEW ORLEANS, LA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that DONMONICK MARTIN, age 30, of Chalmette, Louisiana, pled guilty on February 9, 2022 to Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.
According to court documents, MARTIN conspired to defraud commercial airlines through the submission of false claims for reimbursement for lost baggage. In January 2021, MARTIN’s co-conspirator Pernell Jones, Jr. (“JONES”) took a flight to New Orleans under a fictitious identity. Shortly thereafter, MARTIN went into Louis Armstrong International Airport, assumed the same fictitious identity, and falsely told American Airlines that his bag had been lost on the flight. Court documents also allege that, on four occasions, JONES submitted false claims for lost baggage to airlines under false identities and MARTIN agreed to accept the reimbursement funds from the airlines on JONES’s behalf to help JONES evade detection. In November 2021, JONES pled guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349 and Mail Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341. JONES is set to be sentenced in February 2022.
MARTIN faces up to a maximum term of five (5) years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $250,000, up to three (3) years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo set sentencing for May 4, 2022.
U.S. Attorney Evans would like to acknowledge the investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the City of Dallas Police Department. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Carboni.