Criminals always think that they are going to be able to outsmart the law.
One pack of thugs learned the hard way that crime does not pay.
And a Florida sheriff stunned reporters with five words after taking down a scary gang.
Gang writing bad checks gets busted by Florida sheriff
Florida residents Daquan Carey, Tyler Jacob, Jaquavious Green, and 19 other suspects were part of the Trap Boys gang that was running a massive fraudulent check and debit card scheme.
The gang would steal checks from Florida businesses or look online to find their banking information.
Gang members would either use the stolen checks or use the information they got online to create phony checks.
The checks would be passed to other members of the gang who would deposit them and withdraw the money.
Jacob was the ringleader of the operation and recruited the other members of the gang.
Banks were able to flag some of the bad checks but many times they were able to get away with making the deposit.
The gang was making $50,000 a week at its peak from its phony check scheme.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and the FBI managed to bust the Trap Boys gang after a years-long investigation.
U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg said that law enforcement started at the top and worked down.
“The dismantlement of this organization started exactly where it should have – with its leader,” Handberg said. “On January 23, 2024, detectives, working with the FBI executed a search warrant at Jacob’s house.”
Law enforcement found printers, paper shredders, a scanner, checkbooks, and notebooks with the businesses’ financial information in them.
“Additionally, law enforcement found that there was something in the washing machine that had been started,” Handberg explained. “What was found in there was a box of checks as Jacob was attempting to wash away every bit of evidence against him.”
Jacob tried to get an ex-girlfriend to lie to the police and say ammunition found in his home was hers.
He was charged with 16 counts of bank fraud, identity theft, witness tampering, destruction of evidence, and conspiracy.
The sheriff has a tough message for the gang
Sheriff Judd said Green was arrested on gun charges and Carey was arrested for a murder in Lake Wales, Florida.
“When we arrested him, we fought with him,” Judd said. “Our deputies put their lives on the line, and they got a gun out of his waistband. What else did he have? Checks, credit cards, and so we saw that we have the beginning of a large operation here.”
Judd told reporters that “we flushed the Trap Boys” at a press conference.
“These guys were kind of instrumental for this gang they call the ‘Trap Boys’,” Judd said of Green and Carey. “In fact, Tyler Jacob was known as the ‘Money Man’. He kind of perfected the scheme and was teaching it and bringing people in…But, guess what? We flushed the ‘Trap Boys’. They cease to exist. They’re in the toilet and down in the sewer. We’re going after their accomplices now. There are more flushes for this toilet.”
Authorities suspected that the gang had more than 200 victims including colleges, insurance companies, law firms, and construction companies.
The Trap Boys learned a hard lesson that crime doesn’t pay in the Sunshine State.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.
