Chicago Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Defraud Active U.S. Military Troops

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A Chicago, Il., man was sentenced in federal court today for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud.

Dwayne D. Adams, 33, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Judge M. Douglas Harpool, for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. Adams was sentenced to 27 months incarceration and ordered to pay $165,821.74 in restitution to the victims.

Adams conspired with others to defraud United States military service men and women through the use of social media. Adams is the third and final defendant to be sentenced for his role in defrauding active service members of the United States military.

According to court documents, Adams conspired with others to contact service members who had recently joined the United States military through various social media platforms. Upon communicating with each military member, a person within the conspiracy would use the information obtained from the social media platform contact to then contact the service member claiming to be a senior military official. In their fake role as a senior military member, Adams and others would tell each service member they were receiving the incorrect salary and were owed more money than they were being paid. Adams and others involved in the scheme advised each victim that they needed to return their prior pay using a cash application. Adams and others told the victims that they would receive a higher salary amount from the military once they returned their prior pay. If a service member followed these instructions, the members of this scheme would take the monies transferred and would never return any monies to the victim.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Department of the Army - Criminal Investigation Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.