Baltimore woman sentenced for role in $8M fraud scheme

A Baltimore woman was sentenced Friday to three years in prison for her role in a money laundering scheme involving more than a dozen people.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox sentenced Lakeisha Parker to three years, followed by three years of supervised release, including six months of home detention, and ordered her to pay restitution.

Parker, 33, entered a plea agreement in July, pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, Parker was not a leader in the fraud scheme, but “personally laundered” more than $1 million of the more than $8 million obtained through the scheme.

Parker participated in a “variety of frauds,” according to prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum, including business email compromise schemes.

She conspired with several people from 2019 until November 2023, defrauding victims including a medical center, a transportation and logistics company, a school district, a liberal arts college and the federal Economic Injury Disaster loan program. The EIDL is one of many pandemic-era relief programs intended to support small businesses.

She laundered the proceeds through a limited liability company and several bank accounts. Her lawyer, Thomas Rafter, did not answer a phone call on Tuesday.

Her case is one of a series of prosecutions by the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office targeting fraud related to pandemic relief legislation. The Maryland office is home to one of five “strike forces” investigating large-scale, interstate pandemic fraud schemes.

One of her co-conspirators, Adanegbe Gift Osemwenkhae, pleaded guilty in April to leading the scheme.

Prosecutors had asked for a four-year sentence and three years of supervised release, in addition to restitution.

“Parker’s money laundering was part of an extensive criminal network stretching around the globe that inflicted significant harm on numerous victims,” prosecutors’ sentencing memo states. “Parker was not a leader in the conspiracy, but she participated in the money laundering for years and personally laundered over a million dollars.”

“Moreover, there is a need in this case for both specific deterrence due to Parker’s repeated criminal acts, and general deterrence due to the need to put others on notice not to take the easy money that these types of schemes offer.”

In letters to the judge, Parker’s mother and a friend asked for lenience. Keyonna Nelson wrote that Parker is like a sister to her, and like an aunt to her son, and “takes pride in being a mom that loves her daughter and wants to continue to be there for her.”

“Lakeisha has been through some tough times in her past that affected her mental health and life decisions but she has acknowledged that and is very vocal to her therapist about (it),” Nelson wrote.

“Despite the current case,” Nelson wrote, “I still believe Lakeisha Parker to be a honorable individual, a valuable member of her family and deserves a second chance of life.”