Detention motion includes more details on bank fraud, identity theft charges against Joplin man

More details of allegations of bank fraud and identity theft against a Joplin man were revealed in a detention motion filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

In the motion, Assistant U. S. Attorney Casey Clark said Aaron M. Blake, 27, was a flight risk due to the lengthy prison sentence he could receive if convicted of the charges against him.

Clark also noted Blake's lengthy criminal history and the danger to the community "economic crimes" poses.

While a defendant is presumed innocent and should not be unnecessarily detained, a defendant who preys on the financial security of his neighbors and community is dangerous even if he does not prey on their physical well-being. As such, this defendant is a continuing danger to the community in general.

From the detention motion:

On January 26, 2023, the defendant was located in Jasper County, Missouri, within the Western District of Missouri, in possession of numerous credit and debit cards and identification cards of other individuals. 

Many of these individuals had reported to law enforcement the theft of items, including credit and debit cards, from their mailboxes in the area. Law enforcement also found a laundry basket full of mail in the back seat of the vehicle the defendant and his co-conspirator were driving. 

The defendant told law enforcement that he had one individual’s permission to use her credit card for gas but stated he and his co-conspirator had not used that card for any other purchases. This was not true, as the victim individual said the credit card account had been opened and the card had been used, all without her permission. 

Further, video surveillance showed the defendant and his co-conspirator using the stolen credit card at a restaurant. 

In relation to the basket of mail in the vehicle, the defendant told law enforcement that he and his co-conspirator had found it and were attempting to return the mail to individuals. 

The defendant’s co-conspirator told law enforcement that she had been driving the defendant around the area, she pulled the vehicle up to mailboxes, and the defendant would then take mail out of the mailboxes. 

A law enforcement analysis of Internet Protocol (“IP”) information showed that the above-detailed victim’s credit card account had been opened online through an IP address that was associated with a hotel that the defendant had been staying at. 

A search of a separate hotel room the defendant and his co-conspirator had been staying at revealed numerous stolen mail items, including W-2 forms, checks, personal greeting cards, and jewelry that had been reported stolen from mailboxes. 

Several of these checks had been endorsed with the defendant’s and/or his co-conspirator’s signature. 

The defendant was initially arrested on January 26 and charged in state court for the above conduct. He was recently released on bond in that state case; however, he was contacted by law enforcement on August 23, 2023. 

During this contact, the defendant lied to law enforcement about his identity and then fled from law enforcement. Law enforcement apprehended him and found two checks and five debit cards with different names in his wallet. 

The defendant’s lengthy criminal history clearly demonstrates his complete disregard for law enforcement and the rule of law. In the instant case, the defendant continued his habitual fraudulent activity after already having received numerous criminal convictions for similar activity. He participated in, and acted to further, conspiracies to steal mail and defraud innocent citizens and entities out of money for his own personal financial gain.

A federal grand jury indicted Blake and his co-defendant, Emily Anna-Lee Sturgis, 30, Joplin, August 29 on felony conspiracy, bank fraud, mail theft and identity thefts charges.