FLINT – A 37-year-old Flint Man was sentenced today to 9 years in federal prison for using the stolen identities of dozens of victims to commit identity theft and bank fraud, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced.
Joining in the announcement was Special Agent in Charge John Marengo, U.S. Secret Service and Rodney M. Hopkins, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Detroit Division. of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
U.S. District Judge Shalina D. Kumar sentenced Michael Johnson-Brown today to 9 years in prison following his guilty pleas to bank fraud, committed while on pretrial release, and aggravated identity theft charges.
According to court records, from 2017 to 2021, Johnson-Brown used stolen social security numbers and other personal information to open lines of credit, provided by banks for retail stores, in his victims’ names. Over four years, Johnson-Brown used the fraudulent credit accounts at retail stores to steal more than $422,000 worth of merchandise. He launched his scheme while on parole for identity theft and even continued doing it after he was arraigned on federal charges and released on bond. Johnson-Brown had a long history of cheating and deceiving people, having previously been convicted of eight fraud crimes between 2008 and 2016. He has three prior federal convictions for bank fraud and two state-court convictions for identity theft.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Blaine Longsworth.