Ohio Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud

NEW ORLEANS –  United States Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced ESTEBAN RAMIREZ, III (“RAMIREZ”), age 27, a resident of Lorain, Ohio, was sentenced today for Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.

According to court records, in the beginning of February 2017, RAMIREZ and his codefendants devised and implemented a scheme to defraud by fraudulently representing themselves as immigration attorneys. Specifically, they created the fictitious law firm of “Micheal (sic) Browns Immigration Attorneys” with an address of 4207 Parliament Drive, Alexandria, LA 71303. RAMIREZ took funds from various individuals who were victims of the scheme.  RAMIREZ and his codefendants obtained approximately $8,280.00 during the course of their scheme.  RAMIREZ used Western Union to wire fraudulently obtained funds to his codefendant in the Dominican Republic and RAMIREZ kept a portion of the funds for himself.         

U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance sentenced RAMIREZ to time served of approximately 14 months, followed by three years supervised release, and $8,280.00 in restitution.

U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser praised the work of Homeland Security Investigations. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba, Supervisor of the Financial Crimes Unit.