Texas woman who stole $108,000 from Mississippi banks sentenced to prison for fraud
A Texas woman is headed to prison for more than five years for conspiracy to commit bank fraud that resulted in the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from banks in Mississippi and four other states.
Cristina Michelle Husbands, 48, of Dallas pleaded guilty to stealing $108,000 from customer accounts at Regions Bank branches in Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Jackson, Pearl and Richland. In addition, she has been charged with the same crime at the Regions Bank branches in Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas and possibly other states.
U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden sentenced Husbands on Monday to serve a total of 64 months in prison, or 5 years and 4 months, followed by five years of supervised release and ordered her to pay a total of $481,140 in restitution .
Prior to sentencing, Husbands told the judge she regretted her crimes and apologized to the victims, most of whom had their identities stolen in order for those involved to steal money from them.
Husbands said others approached her to commit the crimes while she was homeless as a result of a drug addiction and a relationship marred by violence.
Her attorney, Merrill K. Nordstrom, pointed out others who headed up the conspiracy to steal from customers recruited Husbands for the job while she was in a vulnerable state because of homelessness and a drug addiction and that she needed money to get by.
Those recruiters, Nordstrom pointed out, often targeted vulnerable people like Husbands at homeless shelters and outside clinics that offer drug addicts alternative drugs like Suboxone to treat their their opiate addictions.
Cashier check fraud
Husbands had been charged in an 11-count federal indictment in Mississippi that included charges of conspiracy and 10 counts of bank fraud for stealing money from Regions Bank branches between November 2021 and April 2022.
According to authorities, Husbands was able to commit the fraud with the help of other unnamed defendants who assisted her in creating fraudulent identification papers to gain access to the accounts.
After obtaining the fraudulent paperwork, Husbands went to various Regions Bank branches to make withdrawals.
During an earlier hearing, Husbands said she felt forced to take part in the crimes and said that she only received 10% of whatever of the total amount of the cashiers checks she cashed at various banks.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Meynardie prosecuted the case in federal court in Gulfport. Her attorney pointed out that Husbands still has pending cases for the same type of crimes in Texas and Tennessee.
In the Mississippi case, at least four people fell victim to the fraud. Here’s a look at those fraudulent transactions, though others were made at various times in other parts of Mississippi and elsewhere:
On Jan. 12, 2022, Husbands obtained two cashier’s checks totaling $16,000 from a home equity line of credit loan from the Regions Bank branch in Richland in Rankin County.
.On Jan. 12, 2022, Husbands obtained two cashier’s checks totaling $15,700 from a home equity line of credit loan from the Regions Bank branch in Jackson in Hinds County.
On Jan. 13, 2022, Husbands obtained two cashier’s checks totaling $16,100 from a home equity line of credit loan at a Regions Bank branch in Pearl in Rankin County.
On Jan. 13, 2022, Husbands obtained two cashier’s checks totaling $16,300 from a home equity line of credit loan along with $13,000 in cash from the same account holder’s account at the Regions Bank branch in Pearl in Rankin County.
On Jan. 13, 2022, Husbands obtained $16,100 cash from a home equity line of credit loan at the Regions Bank branch in Brandon in Rankin County.
On Jan. 14, 2022, Husbands obtained $17,000 from a home equity line of credit loan at the Regions Bank branch in Hattiesburg in Forrest County.
On Jan. 19, 2022, Husbands obtained $4,000 in cash from a savings account at the Regions Bank branch in Gulfport in Harrison County.
On Jan. 20, 2022, Husbands obtained two cashier’s checks totaling $18,800 from a home equity line of credit loan and $700 in cash from the same account at the Regions Bank branch in Gulfport in Harrison County.
In other cases, Husbands obtained cashier’s checks and cash from at least two other people identified during the plea hearing. She also admitted recruiting others to take part in the scheme.
At the time of Husbands’ arrest on federal charges in Mississippi, she was being held at the Hays County jail in San Marcos, Texas, on charges of of fraud, forgery, possession of forging instruments, identity theft, property theft and evading arrest.
