Denver Grand Jury Indicts 27 People in Case Involving Theft from an At-Risk Elder

DENVER—Denver District Attorney Beth McCann today announced that a Denver Grand Jury has indicted 27 individuals on 56 counts in a case involving elder fraud.  The alleged crime ring was headed by two individuals, Ernest Hill (age 53) and Davon Phillips (age 27).  In the fall of 2017, they brought a senior from her home in Las Vegas to live with them in Denver.  Davon Phillips became her agent under a Power of Attorney.  Hill and Phillips had no family relationship with her, but posed as her grandsons and are accused of financially exploiting her.

“This case involves a rather tangled tale of forgery, conspiracy, theft, theft from an at-risk person, and organized crime,” said Denver District Attorney Beth McCann.  “The defendants are accused of using the proceeds to make Playstation Network charges which clearly was not for the victim who was in declining health and had poor eyesight.”

The defendants are accused of opening bank accounts with nominal sums at various banks and credit unions throughout the Denver-metro area.  Almost immediately upon opening the accounts, members of the ring would deposit fraudulent checks to artificially inflate the account balances.  They would either cash the checks or withdraw money from ATMs.  The goal was to extract the maximum amount of money from the bank or credit union before checks bounced and accounts closed.  Many of the forged or fraudulent checks came from accounts opened in the name of the elderly victim. In total, the ring stole $40,000 from the financial institutions.

According to the indictment, Mr. Phillips set up a business called HeadlightsRUS with the Colorado Secretary of State and opened accounts in his personal name and the business name.  HeadlightsRUs never traded and was merely a shell for the commission of crimes and other acts to further the aims of the ring.

The 25 other defendants are Kevin Boswell (age 29), Tyrell Homes (age 24), Kevin Gladney (age 24), Vincent Hood (age 20), Tajshawnne Tate (age 22), Kaitlin Holt (age 23), Mykecia Haqq-Anderson (age 24), Ledezhane Tyler (age 23), Dejana Lollis (age 46), Alawn Smith (age 22), Jalil Jackson (age 27), Elizabeth Broughton (age 22), Kiana Mascarenas (age 22), Gregory Ashley (age 28), Aalyah Austin (age 22), Adontae Thompson (age 20), Ghaisha Hood (age 20), Oriana Clifford-Johnson (age 24), Morrail Bell (age 24), Xavier Smith (age 46), Travis Draper (age 29), Dorian Phillips (age 24), Onjanique Williams (age 21), Kanesha Roland (age 25) and Jaylon Jones (age 22).  The charges include one count of violation of the Colorado Crime Control Act (F2), one count of conspiracy to commit theft (F5), 35 counts of forgery (F5), six counts of theft (F5) three counts of theft (F6), five counts of identity theft (F6), two counts of criminal impersonation (F6) two counts of theft of an at-risk person (F3) and one count of theft of an at-risk person (F5).

The defendants will be arraigned on different days and under different case numbers as arrests are made. The main Grand Jury case number is 19CR2B.

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