UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS OFFICE

District of Minnesota

U.S. ATTORNEY ANDREW M. LUGER



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Ben Petok
August 12, 2014 (612) 664-5703


MUSTAFA FAMILY CRIME RING INDICTED FOR USING THOUSANDS OF
STOLEN IDENTITIES TO STEAL CELLULAR TELEPHONES AND TABLET
DEVICES WORTH MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

Mustafa Family Trafficked Stolen Mobile Devices Throughout United States and Overseas

United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced the indictment of 20 members of the
Mustafa Family (The Organization), a Twin Cities-based criminal organization, for trafficking
stolen and fraudulently obtained mobile telephones and tablets. The Organization, led by
J AMAL TALAL MUSTAFA, a/k/a J immy, primarily obtained devices by robbery, burglary,
identity theft, and contract-fraud schemes. J AMAL MUSTAFA KANAN M T MUSTAFA,
a/k/a Kenny, NASER MOHAMAD MUSTAFA, a/k/a Nasty Nas, EDWAN T MUSTAFA,
a/k/a Eddy, NIZER M MUSTAFA, a/k/a Shaggy, a/k/a Mike, BILAL MUHAMMED
MUSTAFA, a/k/a Billy, TALAL M MUSTAFA, a/k/a Tommy, MOISES NAVARRO
CAZALES, AHMED RD SUNOQROT, a/k/a Abu Shanab, CEDRIC CHAPPELL,
DEANTRE RICKEY-RENE SQUALLS, BLANYON TOE DAVIES, VICTOR TOMBEKAI
DOE, YOLANDA COOMBS, CASWANA MILES, MARCUS PHILLIP COLEMAN,
ROBERT RICHARD COLEMAN, DANIELLE YVONNE COLEMAN, MARQUIS TERELL
MAGGIESFIELD, a/k/a Kenny, and TIARA LIGON, are each charged in U.S. District Court
with Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods.
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Identity theft rings are the modern face of organized crime, said U.S. Attorney Luger. Identity
thieves often use fraudulent identities to obtain goods, which they can sell for cash. These
defendants are charged with obtaining stolen cell phones through identity theft and fraud, and
then selling them for exorbitant profits. It is only through close collaboration and cooperation
between each of the law enforcement agencies involved in this case that we are able to stand here
today having taken out one of the largest criminal enterprises in the Twin Cities.


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The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless
and until proven guilty.
St. Paul Police Department Assistant Chief Bill Martinez said: We want our communities to
understand that this isnt just about someone simply swiping the phones we hold in our hands.
These are not petty crimes. Those thefts and robberies filtered into other crimes.

United States Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Louis Stephens said: Today is a very
good day for the people of Minnesota. A significant organized crime network is no longer at
work. Todays success is the result of the close and collaborative working relationships between
local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, and federal prosecutors. When we combine
our resources, leverage our various areas of expertise, and work as one, we make big things
happen and significant crime is stopped in its tracks.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Wade Setter said: Todays
indictments in this complicated case are truly the product of investigative partnerships. The
Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force worked this case along with the U.S. Secret Service and
the St. Paul Police Department in a multi-jurisdictional approach necessary to investigate this
type of crime.

University of Minnesota Assistant Vice President and Chief of Police Gregory S. Hestness said:
Last fall a wave of robberies targeted University of Minnesota students and their cell phones in
campus area neighborhoods. Officers of the University of Minnesota Police Department worked
literally thousands of hours in robbery suppression, and we saw results. However, without
addressing the underlying criminal enterprise creating a market for these phones, we were not
doing everything possible to protect our students. UMPD was honored to contribute to this
critical major investigation. Todays successes are remarkable, but also emblematic of the strong
partnership of Minnesota law enforcement at the local, state, and federal levels.

According to the indictment and documents filed in court, from at least 2006 through 2014,
J AMAL MUSTAFA directed the Organization to use stolen identity information to obtain
cellular telephones and other mobile devices for the purpose of trafficking them throughout the
United States and internationally. J AMAL MUSTAFA, KANAN MUSTAFA, NASER
MUSTAFA, EDWAN MUSTAFA, NIZER MUSTAFA, BILAL MUSTAFA, TALAL
MUSTAFA, and MOISES NAVARRO-CAZALES, owned and operated 13 mobile device stores
in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The Organization used these storefronts to buy devices that
they knew had been illegally obtained, including purchasing thousands of cellular phones from
runners and other persons who got the phones through robberies, burglaries, shoplifting, and
fraud and identity-theft schemes.

With the assistance of AHMED SUNOQROT, the Organization moved inventory and money
between their stores, which the Organization used as fronts to funnel the illicit proceeds of their
criminal activity.

According to the indictment, the Organization paid runners who stole mobile devices or obtained
them fraudulently by other means. CEDRIC CHAPPELL, DEANTRE-RICKEY-RENE
SQUALLS, BLANYON TOE DAVIES, VICTOR TOMBEKAI DOE, YOLANDA COOMBS,
CASWANA MILES, TIARA LIGON, MARQUIS TERELL MAGGIESFIELD, MARCUS
PHILLIP COLEMAN, ROBERT RICHARD COLEMAN, and DANIELLE YVONNE
COLEMAN, were each paid by the Mustafas to steal or fraudulently obtain mobile devices by
contract or subscription fraud. They targeted stores like Best Buy, WalMart, Verizon outlets, T-
Mobile stores, and online Apple stores.

As charged, various members of the Mustafa Family provided stolen or fraudulent identity
information to the runners, including names, dates of birth, social security numbers, credit card
numbers, passport information, and drivers license numbers of victims. Some of the runners
operated solely within Minnesota, while others travelled to Arizona, Idaho, North Dakota, Iowa,
Wisconsin, Illinois, and Utah to obtain devices. The Organization arranged out-of-state travel for
the runners and paid their expenses. One runner was arrested in Utah in 2013 with more than 80
counterfeit identification documents and genuine victim-information documents. This runner
used those documents to open lines of credit at various retail outlets to make fraudulent device
purchases.

The runners were instructed by the Mustafas to obtain phones by contract-fraud and
subscription-fraud schemes. In such schemes, runners used real stolen identities to obtain cell
phone contracts. At times, the runners obtained family plans or business accounts. In so
doing, runners were sold phones at deeply discounted prices by the legitimate retailers. The full
retail price of an iPhone 5s in the United States is approximately $648. Under a two-year
contract, the same phone is sold for approximately $200. Runners then opened accounts entitling
them to obtain as few as one discounted phone, and as many as 30. The runners then shipped or
delivered the phones back to the Mustafas, via one of the thirteen Twin Cities storefronts, or
shipped the phones to wholesalers in other states for sale overseas. A new iPhone 5s retails for
between $1,000 and $1,200 overseas.

Other runners engaged in street-level violence or burglary to obtain phones. The Sunrise Group,
a burglary ring that traveled throughout the Upper Midwest for the purpose of breaking into
WalMart stores to steal cell phones, iPads, and other electronic devices, provided electronic
devices to the Mustafa Family on several occasions. The Mustafa Family made requests of the
Sunrise Group for large quantities of new phones, and would act as a fence for the stolen
merchandise.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Schommer, Chief of the Major Crimes Section; Assistant U.S.
Attorney Steven Schleicher, Chief of the Special Prosecution Section; and Assistant U.S.
Attorney J ohn Marti are handling the prosecution of this case.

U.S. Attorney Luger thanked the St. Paul Police Department, United States Secret Service,
University of Minnesota Police Department, Minnesota Department of Public Safety and Bureau
of Criminal Apprehension, Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force, United States Postal
Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, Homeland Security
Investigations, Edina Police Department, Minneapolis Police Department, Plymouth Police
Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Marshals Service for their
assistance in the investigation.



Defendant Information:

J AMAL TALAL MUSTAFA, a/k/a J immy, D.O.B. 6/17/1972
Apple Valley, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

KANAN M T MUSTAFA, a/k/a Kenny, D.O.B. 6/16/1977
Rosemount, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

NASER MOHAMAD MUSTAFA, a/k/a Nasty Nas, D.O.B. 1/6/1991
Rosemount, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

EDWAN T MUSTAFA, a/k/a Eddy, D.O.B. 11/14/1974
Apple Valley, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

NIZER M MUSTAFA, a/k/a Shaggy, a/k/a Mike, D.O.B. 8/27/1978
Savage, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

BILAL MUHAMMED MUSTAFA, a/k/a Billy, D.O.B. 6/25/1984
Minneapolis, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

TALAL M MUSTAFA, a/k/a Tommy, D.O.B. 4/19/1971
Burnsville, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

MOISES NAVARRO CAZALES, D.O.B. 11/15/1992
Bloomington, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

AHMED RD SUNOQROT, a/k/a Abu Shanab, D.O.B. 6/2/1955
St. Paul, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

CEDRIC CHAPPELL, D.O.B. 2/17/1971
Minneapolis, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

DEANTRE RICKEY-RENE SQUALLS, D.O.B. 9/6/1990
Brooklyn Center, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

BLANYON TOE DAVIES, D.O.B. 8/8/1993
Unknown

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

VICTOR TOMBEKAI DOE, D.O.B. 2/1/1991
Unknown

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

YOLANDA COOMBS, D.O.B. 2/23/1987
Oakdale, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

CASWANA MILES, D.O.B. 8/10/1988
Unknown

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

MARCUS PHILLIP COLEMAN, D.O.B. 11/5/1991
St. Paul, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

ROBERT RICHARD COLEMAN, D.O.B. 5/3/1984
St. Paul, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

DANIELLE YVONNE COLEMAN, D.O.B. 12/1/1985
St. Paul, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

MARQUIS TERELL MAGGIESFIELD, a/k/a Kenny, D.O.B. 5/9/1986
Unknown

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count

TIARA LIGON, D.O.B. Unknown
St. Paul, MN

Charges:
Conspiracy to Engage in Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods, 1 count


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United States Attorneys Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600