Gavel

URBANA, Ill. (WAND) - A man who stole over $2 million from two companies, including a sign company in Danville, has pleaded guilty to charges. 

Court documents say 43-year-old Jeffery T. Henson's string of crimes began in 2016, when he pretended to be an onine job recruiter to obtain personal identifying information of a job seeker. With that person's stolen information, he obtained a job in their name as director of accounting at a Schaumburg, Ill., consulting firm, thus keeping the firm from learning about his prior theft convictions. 

When he was employed, Henson set up fraudulent companies with names similar to the firm's real vendors and used his position to forge company checks. The checks were then sent to the fraudulently created companies, and Henson stole at least $1,868,765 before fleeing Chicago and moving to Danville in 2018. 

The next crime happened in 2018, when Henson stole the identity of a person he makes podcasts with. He then used the stolen identity to create a fraudulent bank account and get a job in the person's name as comptroller of Watchfire Signs LLC in Danville. He caused Watchfire's legitimate tax liability payments to be routed to the fraudulent bank account. 

Henson laundered some of the fraud money by buying a $50,000 cashier's check, then using that check to purchase a Mercedes-Benz car for over $100,000. 

Watchfire discovered the scheme when the victim of Henson's identity theft contacted the company after learning Henson was using his identity. By that time, authorities said Watchfire had been defrauded of about $330,000. 

Henson was arrested in Indianapolis on Nov. 25, 2019, when he tried to access his fraudulent account. At the time, he possessed multiple stolen identity documents. 

Henson has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since the time of his arrest. 

He pleaded guilty Monday to charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering in U.S. District Court in Urbana. Prosecutors said he faces statutory penalties of up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud, 10 years for money laundering and two years, consecutive to another other sentence, for aggravated identity theft. 

The investigation into Henson's crimes was handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Division, and Danville police. The government is represented in prosecution by Supervisory Assistant United States Attorney Eugene L. Miller. 

Henson is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 7, 2022 in Urbana.Â