Carl Granada Wilson, Jr., a 36-year-old Hollywood, California man, has entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, stemming from his role in a scheme that saw corporations' United Parcel Service (UPS) accounts used without authorization to generate shipping labels. Wilson's admission came before U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes in the District of Columbia, as announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and the FBI's David J. Scott. Wilson is facing a maximum sentence of five years in prison and has agreed to pay restitution alongside a forfeiture money judgment for the ill-gotten gains.
In a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Wilson confessed to having obtained login credentials to a company's UPS account as early as 2020. He then intentionally provided these to Raekwon Malik Harrod of Washington D.C. and another associate from Maryland, who initially used the stolen access to cut down their shipping costs for an online shoe resale business. It was later revealed that Wilson's co-conspirators began to illegally sell the shipping labels to third parties, eventually costing the first victim company over $900,000.
Following a loss of access to the initial account, Harrod and the Maryland co-conspirator informed Wilson about their activities. Wilson asked for $120,000 supposedly to compensate the contact who provided the UPS account access initially, a sum he intended to fully pocket himself. According to the plea agreement, the accomplices withdrew the money and personally delivered it to Wilson in California. Subsequently, the scheme continued when Wilson secured and shared access to a second company's UPS account, with both Harrod and the Maryland partner resuming the online sale of shipping labels with Wilson's direct involvement.
The matter was thoroughly investigated by the FBI's Washington Field Office and is being prosecuted with the aid of Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman, paralegal specialist Sonalika Chaturvedi, Michon Tart, and former Financial Analyst Bryan Snitselaar contributing to the case. Judge Reyes has scheduled Wilson's sentencing for October 31, a date that now looms for the defendant as he must also reconcile with the financial losses imposed upon the defrauded companies.
