People who commit felonies often prey on the innocent and take advantage of the naive. They gain advantage by exploiting others for their own personal gain. With that said, can ex-cons truly be rehabilitated? Is it possible for them to go the straight and narrow, or are they just waiting for the right chance to strike again? Before answering that question, you may want to hear Michele Fletcher’s story.
An ex-con whose crimes could be considered substantial, by monetary value alone, Michele and her husband, Francis Fletcher, were involved in one of the biggest credit card fraud and identity theft schemes of all time. When all was said and done, they had used the credit and identities of more than 40,000 people to amass millions of dollars in illegal purchases.
Michele learned the art of deception while growing up in Brooklyn. Her father provided her and her sister with extravagant shopping trips to Saks Fifth Avenue and a private school education, all paid for with other people’s money from check fraud and other various crimes. Although she is now estranged from her dad, she attributes her expensive taste and her "shop for free" attitude to him.
By the time Michele and Francis were married in 1998, she had given birth to a daughter and begun a career in cosmetology. The couple bought their first stolen credit card at a nightclub, which they used to go on a shopping spree. Michele bought herself a pair of pants at Bloomingdale’s and a Louis Vuitton bag. The rush from that first shopping spree served to feed the couple’s desire for bigger and better things.
Michele and Francis used government loans to expand her Moné & Company salons. The salons were a big deal in the local beauty industry. At one point, the three salons employed 50 people. From the outside looking in, the salons appeared very successful. Revenue reached $70,000 in some months and, unlike most salons, her stylists were paid salaries instead of commissions, with some of them getting as much as $80,000 per year. Some employees were even offered health benefits. Remodeling was also a constant at the salons. Nonetheless, the business expenses rapidly exceeded the profits, and Michele became more and more involved in fraudulent activities.
For more than three years, the Fletchers continued to acquire credit card numbers and Social Security numbers through purchase or "skimming." They used a machine to imprint the stolen numbers onto new cards and made identification cards with their photos alongside the card owners’ names and information. This gave them the physical card and the identification they needed to use it, eliminating any suspicion at the point of purchase.
To those on the outside, it appeared as though Michele Fletcher had the perfect life. She had a loving husband, three beautiful daughters, three successful salons and a gorgeous home in the affluent Prince George’s County area of Maryland. Their expensive taste and constant acquisition of frivolities and luxuries allowed them to easily fit into their surroundings. Michele’s salons provided a good front for the couple’s apparent wealth; however, with each new acquisition, they felt the need for more.
Michele had a 13-aisle closet filled with nearly 1,000 pairs of shoes. The house was outfitted with five plasma screen televisions and multiple satellite dishes. The couple had many luxury cars, including a Mercedes-Benz and a fully loaded Lexus. They also owned a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle.
Unfortunately for them, their desire for extravagance, and lots of it, quickly became their downfall.
