Five years in prison for Las Vegas man accused of mail fraud

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A judge in Virginia has sentenced a 56-year-old Las Vegas man to five years in prison for assuming the identity of defunct businesses to obtain electronics that he then resold.

Myrick Clift Beasley pleaded guilty to mail fraud in January. He was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.

According to court papers, Beasley assumed the identity of at least 148 legitimate but inactive businesses nationwide between 2010 and 2015. He charged at least $1.4 million in goods and services on those companies’ accounts. He was charged in Virginia because one of the transactions involved five cellphones shipped to an office in McLean.

U.S. Attorney Dana Boente says it was “a complex, sophisticated fraud” that victimized some of the nation’s largest retailers and service providers.