Antonio Strong, a promoter involved in a fraud scheme with G Herbo, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud in Massachusetts on Wednesday (May 22). According to Chicago’s PBS affiliate, Strong will be sentenced in September.
Strong reached a deal with prosecutors, admitting to using stolen credit card information to pay for more than $2 million in luxury items. G Herbo accepted a plea agreement for his role in the scheme in 2023.
G Herbo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to a federal official. Prosecutors dropped several counts of aggravated identity theft as part of his deal.
A judge sentenced G Herbo, whose real name is Herbert Wright, to three years of probation in January. The rapper was fined $5,500 and ordered to pay $139,878 in restitution.
Strong, G Herbo and four co-defendants were indicted by a grand jury in 2020. Federal prosecutors said the nationwide fraud conspiracy started in March 2016 and ended in September 2020.
“The stolen payment card account information included the actual cardholders’ names, addresses, payment card account numbers, security codes and account expiration dates,” prosecutors noted. “Because Strong and his alleged co-conspirators provided authentic payment card information, the defrauded businesses and individuals successfully processed their transactions and provided the goods and services. The actual cardholders discovered these transactions on their accounts and disputed the charges, which were reversed by the payment card companies. As a result, the transactions were charged back to the businesses and individuals from whom Strong and his co-conspirators defrauded with the unauthorized transactions.”
Two of Strong and G Herbo’s co-defendants also pleaded guilty in the case. Two more await trial.
Strong faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud charges.
