Three men were indicted on charges they scammed people in two states and tried to kill a Texas judge when their fraud ring was at risk, officials said Friday.
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Onyeri is also suspected in the November 2015 shooting of Travis County, Texas, Judge Julie Kocurek outside her home.
Onyeri’s federal charges are related to the shooting of Kocurek, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Scott was arrested Thursday in New Orleans and is in federal custody.
A man revealed to be part of a conspiracy to murder a Texas judge and commit banking fraud is now reported to be on the loose in the Houston, Texas region. Burgin is still on the run in Houston and is considered to be armed and risky. Crime Stoppers Houston is now offering up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest (713-222-TIPS) and the FBI San Antonio Field Office is seeking information as well (210-225-6741). ONYERI, MARCELLUS ANTOINE BURGIN and RASUL KAREEM SCOTT travelled to Austin, Texas, in order to kill Judge Julie Kocurek, a Texas District Court Judge whom ONYERI believed was going to sentence ONYERI to prison.
Kocurek was wounded and spent about two months in the hospital before returning to the bench in February, saying she felt as though “I’ve been reborn”.
The men could face up to life in prison on conspiracy charges, 20 years behind bars for trying to commit mail or wire fraud and two years for each aggravated identity theft charge. Onyeri faces six more counts of identity theft, one more count of wire fraud conspiracy and a mail fraud conspiracy charge.
The indictment alleges that from January 2012 to November 2015, Onyeri and others carried out various fraudulent schemes for financial gain in Austin, Houston, the state of Louisiana and surrounding areas.
The conspirators stole unsuspecting victims’ personal information through cameras placed on ATMs and debit and credit card readers, known as “skimmers”, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The day before the attack, Onyeri used stolen debit card information to buy gloves at an Auto Zone, and the three men used a stolen debit card to pay for a motel, the indictment says. He also agreed to a $1,500 payment for a person he thought was a U.S. Postal employee in exchange for intercepting mailed tax refund checks, prosecutors said. Onyeri was arrested on unrelated charges in Houston days later. A motion was before Kocurek to revoke Onyeri’s probation because of an arrest in Calcasieu.
Three men were indicted Friday on charges related to a almost fatal attack on a judge in Austin past year, officials said. Kocurek was shot outside her West Austin home in early November previous year after returning from a football game with family members. Gunfire rang out when the driver of a vehicle she was riding in got out to move a trash can that had been placed in the driveway, police said at the time. She told the local newspaper she put up her arm in a reflex when the shots rang out and lost one of the fingers on her left hand.
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“I feel very lucky that is all I lost”, she said.
