Inmate Caught Running Ohio Fraud Ring

The mastermind of a successful identity theft ring operating all over Ohio turned out to be a man who was already incarcerated.

Dimorio McDowell, who was already behind bars in New Jersey, was recently sentenced to an additional 14-and-a-half years in federal prison after pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, according to a report from the Akron, Ohio, newspaper the Beacon Journal. Since August 2009, his fraud ring, which included at least eight co-conspirators, ripped off consumers for more than $250,000.

The prisoner used cell phones smuggled into his jail cell to make fraudulent purchases, and to even impersonate a deputy U.S. marshal in an effort to get prisoners moved, the report said. As part of the scheme, McDowell would call major national chains and use stolen information to take on other people's identities. He then would authorize his co-conspirators to use the accounts.

McDowell has been convicted of these types of crimes twice in the past, and both times ran up similar fraudulent debt, according to a report from the Cleveland Plain Dealer.