A federal jury in Seattle has convicted a former King County jail inmate and his alleged partner in a brazen phone scheme that zeroed in on some of the region’s most vulnerable people: seriously ill veterans lying in intensive care units.
After a four-day trial and roughly six hours of deliberation, jurors on Monday found Darryl Lamont Young guilty on all 14 counts in the indictment and convicted Aqeelah Ngiesha Williams on 12 counts tied to the same plot.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd announced the verdict, according to KIRO 7. Prosecutors had previously charged the pair with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft, as outlined in an earlier press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
How the Scheme Worked
According to court filings, Young was already in the King County jail when the scheme took shape. Using the jail’s phone system, he called a local Veterans Affairs medical center and, because the automated inmate warning did not play, managed to get staff to transfer him to other VA hospitals. Once connected, Young pretended to be a VA employee and obtained names of ICU patients along with their emergency contacts. He then set up three-way calls, prosecutors say, in which Williams would come on the line and ask those veterans or their relatives for debit or credit card information, according to Midpage.
Victims and Losses
Prosecutors say the duo’s reach was wide. They allegedly targeted more than 30 VA and non-VA medical facilities and reached more than 60 victims. In all, they attempted about 130 fraudulent transactions and successfully pulled in roughly $8,300, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Authorities say the stolen card details were used to put money into Young’s commissary and jail-call accounts.
Prosecutors' View
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sok Tea Jiang told jurors the plot was no casual hustle but a coordinated effort aimed squarely at vulnerable patients. The defendants, Jiang argued, effectively “forced their way into the hospital through the phone lines,” according to KIRO 7. That framing echoed the government’s broader trial theme that the pair exploited trust at hospitals that were trying to care for people in crisis.
Next Steps and Penalties
Young remains in custody as he awaits sentencing, while Williams is free on bond. U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead has not yet set a sentencing date, according to Midpage. Wire fraud carries a statutory maximum of 20 years, and aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two-year term that must run consecutive to any other sentence, penalties noted by prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office release.
What Victims Should Know
King County’s jail system already warns families about scams that try to pry loose money or personal data, and the VA maintains resources for veterans who suspect fraud connected to the Seattle VA Medical Center. If you think you or a loved one may have been targeted, county guidance is blunt: do not share financial information and report the incident to the VA Office of Inspector General or local law enforcement.
