(Washington, D.C.) On Thursday, June 16th, 2016, Tyi Michael Tunstall was sentenced to 30 months in prison for identity theft schemes that enabled him to steal more than $75,000.
The U.S. Secret Service, Washington Field Office and their local law enforcement partners initiated this investigation in November of 2015. Tunstall was arrested on January 27, 2016.
In March, 2016, Tunstall pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“This arrest is a culmination of a months-long investigation conducted by the Secret Service and our local law enforcement partners. The extraordinary work of the Montgomery County Police Department and the United States Attorney’s Office was critical to bringing federal charges and a successful prosecution of Tyi Michael Tunstall,” said Special Agent in Charge Brian Ebert of the U.S. Secret Service, Washington Field Office.
Tunstall previously pled guilty in September 2013 to a charge of mail fraud. He was sentenced in March 2014 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to five years of probation with special conditions to complete six months of home confinement, followed by 20 weekends in jail. He also was ordered to pay $61,543 in restitution.
Tunstall used his places of employment to target his victims and carry out his schemes.
In one scheme, Tunstall stole the personal identifying information of an elderly victim.In a separate scheme, Tunstall created a counterfeit check in the amount of $61,525 and deposited it into his personal bank account. From this, he transferred $20,000 to an account that he had set up in the name of the elderly victim.
Tunstall used $52,512 of the proceeds from these schemes to pay off his restitution balance in the 2014 case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
About the United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service was originally founded in 1865 for the purpose of suppressing the counterfeiting of U.S. currency. Now an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, the Secret Service is widely known for its protective mission in safeguarding the nation’s highest elected officials, visiting foreign dignitaries and events of national significance. Today, the Secret Service maintains a unique dual mission of protection and investigations, as one of the premier law enforcement organizations charged with investigating cyber and financial crimes.