It turns out that authorities’ frequent warnings that buying and using counterfeit coupons can get you in as much trouble as though you created them yourself, is no empty threat.
Another major customer of a notorious coupon counterfeiter is the latest to learn that lesson the hard way.
Jennifer Snyder of Lavon, Texas has now become the third of five defendants to plead guilty to mail fraud, for purchasing fraudulent coupons from convicted counterfeiter Lori Ann Talens.
Talens herself has been in prison for the past several years, serving a 12-year sentence for creating and selling nearly $32 million worth of counterfeit coupons online. So none of her customers have been able to purchase coupons from her for quite some time.
They may have thought that meant they could simply move on. But several of Talens’s top customers are finding that their past purchases are coming back to haunt them.
The “counterfeit coupon empire” that prosecutors said Talens ran, began to unravel eight years ago. That’s when a tipster contacted the Coupon Information Corporation to report that a social media user was creating and selling counterfeit coupons online. The trail ultimately led to Talens, who was convicted and sentenced several years later.
At the time, CIC Executive Director Bud Miller told Coupons in the News that those who purchased coupons from the pair “may be criminally and financially liable for their counterfeit coupon activities,” and that any “coupon purchasers should be aware that they are providing their personal information” to the sellers and are not as anonymous as they may think.
Indeed, once the case against Talens was closed, investigators began taking a closer look at her top customers. Talens kept detailed records of her sales, so her customers were easy to identify. And late last year, prosecutors filed charges against the five biggest buyers.
Snyder was among them. Prosecutors described her as a “coupon enthusiast” who became “a member of Lori Ann Talens’ counterfeit coupon network.” In 120 different transactions, she paid $4,870 for approximately $243,518 worth of fake coupons. “Talens documented these transactions in her customer spreadsheet and kept pictures of some of the coupons she mailed to Snyder, as well as screenshots of their conversations discussing the transactions,” prosecutors explained in court documents.
Snyder on Friday agreed to plead guilty to a single count of mail fraud, for purchasing counterfeit coupons sent to her through the U.S. Postal Service. She’ll be sentenced on December 15th, and faces a maximum potential penalty of 20 years imprisonment, plus fines, forfeiture and restitution to the companies who suffered losses.
Two other defendants, Amber Teague and Melissa Apodaca, had earlier reached similar plea deals, and are due to be sentenced the day after Snyder finds out her fate. Barring plea deals of their own, the two remaining “top customers” of Talens, Sherise Williams and Cindi Swindle, are currently scheduled to go to trial next month.
Authorities estimated that Talens had about 2,000 customers in total. The fact that only five were charged, could come as a relief to the rest. But the fact that any were charged at all, could serve as a warning to anyone else considering the purchase of counterfeit coupons – the next time a coupon counterfeiter is caught and convicted, they may not be going down alone.
Image source: FBI
