Debt Collector Gets to swallow his own medicine

convicted felon John Todd Williams, courtesy Gwinnett County Sheriffs Office

According to the feds..."Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that JOHN TODD WILLIAMS, a/k/a “JT,” a/k/a “Joe Steele,” was convicted for conspiring to commit wire fraud in connection with a nationwide debt collection scheme that defrauded more than 6,000 victims throughout the United States out of millions of dollars.  WILLIAMS was convicted following a five-day jury trial before the Honorable Richard J. Sullivan.  WILLIAMS owned and operated a debt collection company based in Norcross, Georgia, called WILLIAMS, SCOTT & ASSOCIATES, a/k/a “WSA,” a/k/a “Warrant Services Association,” (“WSA”).  WILLIAMS and his co-conspirators, whom he employed as debt collectors at WSA, tricked and coerced victims into making payments to WSA by making false threats and telling a host of lies.  These threats included falsely stating that warrants had been issued for the victims’ arrest or that criminal charges were pending against them.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said:  “For owning and operating a debt collection company that tricked, threatened, and coerced vulnerable victims into making payments, a unanimous jury convicted John Williams of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  The conviction today brings an end to Williams’s massive scam that used scare tactics and threats to coerce millions of dollars out of thousands around the country.”

According to the evidence presented at trial:

Between approximately 2009 and May 2014, employees working for WSA, led by WILLIAMS, routinely attempted to trick and coerce thousands of victims throughout the United States into paying millions of dollars in consumer debts through a variety of false statements and false threats.  Employees of WSA typically used aliases, sometimes referring to themselves as “Detective” or “Investigator,” falsely advised consumers they had committed purported crimes such as “check fraud” or “depository check fraud,” and told consumers that if they failed to make immediate payments to WSA to resolve the matters, warrants would be issued for their arrest.  WSA employees also falsely claimed that WSA had contracts with, or was otherwise affiliated with, certain federal or local law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

Among other false statements, WSA employees also claimed that WSA was a law firm or otherwise worked with lawyers, and that they would have the victims’ driver’s licenses suspended if those victims did not make payment to WSA.  To falsely create an appearance of legitimacy, and further trick their victims into making payments, WSA employees routinely used legal terminology to invent legitimate-sounding, but completely bogus, explanations for the supposed imminent arrest of the victims, including for example, that the “statute of limitations” on the victims’ “civil legal rights” had expired and therefore the matter was now a criminal matter that could be resolved only by voluntary payment to WSA, or arrest.  WILLIAMS and WSA employees also attempted to collect debts from victims who had already paid off their loans.  When victims told WSA employees that they had already paid their debts, they were told, at WILLIAMS’s instruction, that “you can’t pay a debt with a debt instrument,” i.e., a credit card.

In total, from approximately 2009 through approximately May 2014, WSA obtained more than $4.1 million dollars from more than 6,000 victims in all 50 states.

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WILLIAMS was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

WILLIAMS is scheduled to be sentenced on October 28, 2016, at 2:30 p.m., by the Honorable Richard J. Sullivan."

This is measure for measure. He threatened people with jail time and made money off threats and now he will pay heavily for his crime. How much time will get? I estimate about 10 years, based on the dollar amount he stole from people. I hope he regrets his actions and turns his life around. 

To see what he can expect in federal prison, go here...https://www.amazon.com/PRISON-expect-Federal-Bureau-Prisons-ebook/dp/B011GTWLOG