United States Attorney Eric Melgren

District of Kansas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

News releases are available at www.usdoj.gov/usao/ks/
Contact: Jim Cross
Phone: (316) 269-6481
Fax: (316) 269-6420

BACK TO PRISON: SCHEME DEVISED BEHIND BARS WENT BAD

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – An Iowa man is going back to prison for a crime that was devised while he was behind bars.

Donald Mixan, 36, appeared Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil and was sentenced to 21 months.

“In December 2004, Mr. Mixan and co-defendant Montgomery Akers were inmates at the Corrections Corporation of America’s facility in Leavenworth, Kansas,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren. “When Mixan was released, he assisted Mr. Akers in carrying out a scheme to defraud the Bank of America and other financial institutions. As a result, Mr. Mixan will be returning to prison.”

Mixan pleaded guilty in Aug. 2005 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. In his plea, he admitted that in December 2004 Akers devised a scheme to obtain funds by fraud from various banking institutions. Communicating by mail and telephone, Akers hired an attorney in Kansas and directed Mixan’s girlfriend to use computer software to generate two checks a day for two weeks drawn on accounts at Wells Fargo, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan. Akers provided her with account numbers and routing numbers for the checks. Akers then directed her to send the checks via Federal Express to Bank of the West Center Office in Salt Lake City, Utah. None of the checks presented to the various financial institutions as part of the scheme was a legitimate check with sufficient funds to support it.

Akers hired an attorney in Utah and directed the attorney to take $90,000 from the account to pay Akers’ attorney in Kansas. Akers also directed the Utah attorney to send money to Akers’ wife in Germany. The Utah attorney was paid $1,000, plus his hourly fee.

On Jan. 7, 2005, two checks from Mixan were sent to the Kansas City attorney via Federal express. Mixan’s girlfriend had filled in the checks by following instructions Mixan passed on to her from Akers during a phone conversation. Three checks were generated that way: one for $100,000; one for $50,000; and one for $25,000.

On Jan. 8, 2005, after Mixan was released from custody, he and his girlfriend met with the attorney in Kansas City. Mixan gave the attorney the $100,000 check. The check, which was drawn on U.S. Bank, bounced when the attorney tried to deposit it a few days later.

On Jan. 11, 2005, Mixan followed Akers’ instructions to deposit a check for $117,000 into the U.S. Bank account. The check had been created by Mixan using a computer. It was not a legitimate check and there were insufficient funds in the account to support it.

The intended loss to financial institutions, including Bank of America and U.S. Bank Corporation, as part of the scheme by Akers and Mixan was more than $493,000.

In September 2005, Akers pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He is set for sentencing Aug. 28.

Melgren commended the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Martin, who is prosecuting.