Evergreen Reporter

Raekwon Malik Harrod, 25, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to a prison term for fraudulently using the UPS accounts of two American companies to create shipping labels, which he and another conspirator sold online. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.

Harrod pleaded guilty on January 5 to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes ordered that Harrod serve six months and one day in prison and an additional twelve months on home detention. Harrod must serve a total of three years of supervised release and pay $920,000 in restitution.

In his plea agreement, Harrod admitted that no later than 2020, Carl Granada Wilson Jr., a California co-conspirator, gained access to one company’s UPS account and provided Harrod with the account’s log-in credentials. Harrod provided the credentials to a Maryland co-conspirator. Initially, Harrod and the Maryland co-conspirator, who both re-sold shoes online, used the account to create UPS shipping labels to mail the shoes they sold, which reduced their shipping costs to zero. Wilson intended that they use the account in this manner. However, in late 2020, Harrod and the Maryland co-conspirator decided to use the account to sell UPS shipping labels to third parties. They advertised the service online and each created thousands of UPS labels using the compromised account. Harrod acknowledged that the fraudulent use of the company’s account caused it to lose more than $900,000.

In late July 2021, Harrod and the Maryland co-conspirator lost access to the account, prompting them to tell Wilson that they had been selling labels using it. Wilson requested that they pay him $120,000, which Harrod and the Maryland co-conspirator understood would be used to compensate the person who gave Wilson access to it. However, in reality, Wilson planned to keep all of the money for himself. Thus, in August 2021, Harrod and the Maryland co-conspirator withdrew nearly $70,000 in cash and flew with it to Los Angeles where they gave it to Wilson. When they were in California, they withdrew another $50,000 in cash and provided it again to Wilson who pocketed all of it.

Eventually, Wilson secured access to a second American company’s UPS account which he provided to Harrod and his Maryland accomplice. The two men then resumed selling UPS shipping labels online with direct involvement from Wilson.

On June 13, 2024; Wilson pled guilty to conspiracy committing mail fraud His sentencing is scheduled for October 31st before Judge Reyes.

This case was investigated by FBI's Washington Field Office prosecuted by Assistant U.S Attorney Kondi Kleinman assisted by paralegal specialist Sonalika Chaturvedi former paralegal specialist Michon Tart & former Financial Analyst Bryan Snitselaar also assisting investigation.

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