Augusta-born Walker Washington, 53, was sentenced to 100 months in prison
A Georgia conman who has used stolen credit cards to live big in hotels and rent a Rolls-Royce Phantom while claiming a rap industry personality linked to Roc Nation and the Wu-Tang clan , was sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
Augusta-born Walker Washington, 53, was sentenced to 100 months in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, said David H. Estes, acting U.S. attorney for the southern district of Georgia.
“These two Flim Flam artists and their false entourage lived for several weeks cheating hotel providers,” said Estes. “We praise the skeptical hotel employee who saw through the fraud and alerted law enforcement and brought this program to a standstill.”
District Judge Dudley H. Bowen also urged Washington to pay about $ 300,000 to 19 companies that were defrauded in the fraud.
Walker Washington, 53, and Aaron Barnes-Burpo, 29, claimed to be a rap personality linked to Roc Nation and the Wu Tang clan (file image).
Barnes-Burpo and Washington admitted falsely claiming to be affiliated with Roc Nation, a production company founded by Jay-Z and the Wu-Tang clan.
Both men were renting counterfeit and stolen credit cards in several cities in the southeast back in September 2019 to rent limousines, fraudulent hotels and production studios.
The Georgian Terrace Hotel in Atlanta, where the cast of Gone With The Wind stayed during the film’s premiere in Atlanta, received an unpaid bill for $ 45,000 after Barnes-Burpo and Washington stayed there.
Hyatt Regency Atlanta officials told the FBI they walked away without paying the $ 39,000 bill.
Both men had driven a Roll Royce Phantom that had been rented from A-National Limousine that had lost nearly $ 60,000.
The group also used two Atlanta recording studios but never paid their bills.
Washington must be released under custody three years after his sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.
Aaron Barnes-Burpo, 29, of Crestview, Fla., Was previously sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to the same charges and has to pay the companies $ 300,000 in restitution
Washington’s co-defendant, Aaron Barnes-Burpo, 29, of Crestview, Fla., Was previously sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to the same charges and is required to pay the companies $ 300,000 in restitution.
Barnes-Burpo will be released under custody for three years after his sentence, according to court records.
He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The hotel staff at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Augusta met the men on November 21, 2019 and notified the FBI and the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
Barnes-Burpo emailed the Fairfield Inn and Suites from a Rocnation832 Gmail account with a credit authorization form showing the credit card was attached to a Kansas address and identified the guest according to court documents and the Washington Post as “Rocnation / WuTangClan”.
The Fairfield Inn and Suites in Augusta, Georgia was caught by Barnes-Burpo and Washington’s fraud on November 21, 2019
The hotel staff suspected a fraud and the hotel sales manager called Roc Nation. He was told the company was not affiliated with the men who booked rooms.
After Barnes-Burpo tried to check in under the reservation, he and others with him were arrested by the Richmond County Sheriff’s MPs.
Two other members of the group told MPs they were homeless men from Atlanta who had been recruited by the men to be bodyguards.
Others traveling with the men were not charged.
“These two scammers will have plenty of time to find out if their few weeks of unearned fame were worth several years in prison,” said Chris Hacker, special agent for FBI Atlanta.