Oklahoma Inmate Indicted for Fraud

An Oklahoma prison inmate serving time for armed robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon has been indicted on federal fraud charges. Sean Siwek, 32, is accused of extorting more than $86,000 from a man in Ohio after setting up a fake dating profile. He is indicted on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and impersonating a federal officer.

Siwek's alleged scheme involved smuggling cell phones into the Lawton Correctional Facility and using them to set up fake dating profiles around the country. Siwek, under the names "Youngster," Ron Sanders, Ron Grankowski, and Devon Jones, set up these false profiles in an apparent attempt to arrange sexual liaisons with men who were married or had girlfriends.

One of the accounts, under the name Devon Jones, garnered the interest of the alleged victim. The man arranged to meet with "Devon" for "a good time sexually."

After arrangements were made, however, Siwek is accused of switching the tale to extort the victim out of tens of thousands of dollars. Siwek allegedly contacted the man purporting to be the father of "Devon Jones." He said that "Devon" was not 24 as his profile indicated, but only 15 years old. Acting as the father, Siwek allegedly demanded gift cards and cash totaling $1,000 to pay for a background check on the man. He then said that he had notified the FBI and that the man should expect a phone call from "Special Agent Ron Sanders."

Investigators say Siwek or a co-conspirator then contacted the man purporting to be the FBI agent and demanded a cash bribe to prevent the filing of criminal charges. The man also sent cash payments to pay off a judge and to "silence" witnesses.

Currently, Siwek is the only one indicted in the case, but other inmates are accused of being co-conspirators who smuggled in cell phones and made phone calls to victims. 

In addition to the Ohio case, Siwek is accused of bilking other men in other states by returning their phone calls posing as the father of the person the men thought they were contacting, alleging false sex crimes, and demanding cash to pay for the child's "counseling."

Under federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1343), wire fraud is a felony punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison, unless the scheme is carried out in connection with a presidentially declared emergency or natural disaster or affects a financial institution. In either of those cases, the maximum penalty is 30 years in prison.

Impersonating a federal officer (18 U.S.C. § 912) carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

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