Chicago-Area Rap Artist Sentenced for Role in Nationwide Fraud Conspiracyy

Press Release

Defendant responsible for $102,000 in victim losses; used funds for private jet charters and luxury hotels

BOSTON - A Chicago-area man was sentenced today in federal court in Springfield, Mass. for his role in a nationwide wire fraud conspiracy that victimized businesses and individuals across the United States.

Joseph Williams, 32, of University Park, Ill., was sentenced by District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to three years of probation. In March 2024, Williams pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Williams was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2020 along with five co-defendants, including rap promoter Antonio Strong, rap artist Herbert Wright and Demario Sorrells.

Williams is a rap artist known as "Joe Rodeo," "Rockstar Rodie," or "Rodeo," based in the Chicago area. Beginning in at least March 2017 through November 2018, Williams, Sorrells, Wright and Strong, and allegedly two other co-defendants, conspired to defraud numerous businesses and individuals throughout the United States by using unauthorized and stolen payment card account information of real individuals - including the actual cardholders' names, addresses, security codes and account expiration dates. The defrauded businesses and individuals successfully processed the fraudulent transactions and provided the goods and services to Wright and his alleged co-conspirators. The actual cardholders discovered these transactions on their accounts and disputed the charges with their card companies who then charged back the transactions to the businesses and individuals, which consequently suffered losses in the amounts of the unauthorized transactions.

Williams received illicit account information allegedly from Strong on numerous occasions and used it to make purchases knowing the account information was stolen. He also took numerous private jets, commercial flights and stayed in hotels that were paid for with the illicit account information. Although Williams did not personally conduct all of the transactions that benefitted him, he knew (or reasonably should have known) that others were purchasing his flights and hotels in a fraudulent manner. In total, Williams was responsible for $102,000 in victim losses.

In May 2024, Strong pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 19, 2024; in July 2023, Wright pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to a federal official. He was sentenced to three years' probation and was ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture of $139,968 in Jan. 2024; and on Feb. 2, 2024, Sorrells pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 29, 2024.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Andrew Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Boston Field Office made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of the Springfield Branch Office and Trial Attorneys Andrew Tyler and Kyle Crawford of the Justice Department's Criminal Division's Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Updated August 13, 2024