ODU Student Sentenced to Nearly 2 Years After Pleading Guilty to Stealing Banking Information, Forging Checks in 2023

NORFOLK, Va. — Michiah Kadafi Owens, 26, was sentenced on Friday to one year and nine months in prison for check forgery, uttering (using) a forged check, credit card theft, and attempting to obtain money by false pretenses after he pleaded guilty to defrauding several people last year.

One victim — a man acquainted with Mr. Owens through work — reported to law enforcement in October that, after letting Mr. Owens borrow his phone on one occasion, he later discovered Mr. Owens used that opportunity to set up a banking app account on the phone and then had transferred money from the victim to himself. Mr. Owens had also applied for a student loan using that victim’s name as his co-signor.

Following that report, Old Dominion University Police officers searched Mr. Owens’ campus residence and found numerous checks and debit cards belonging to a different victim. Officers located that victim, who told them that he had lost his wallet earlier in the year. Further investigation revealed that Mr. Owens successfully forged and cashed two of the second victim’s checks between August and December.

On April 24, Mr. Owens pleaded guilty to the four felony charges, and Judge Robert B. Rigney accepted his plea with no agreement to his sentence.

On Friday, Judge Rigney sentenced Mr. Owens to serve one year and nine months in prison and suspended another 10 years and three months on the conditions that Mr. Owens complete three years of uniform good behavior and two years of supervised probation, pay restitution to the victim with whom Mr. Owens worked, and to have no contact with any of the victims.

“People who commit financial crimes steal more than money from their victims; they also steal their victims’ sense of security, harm their credit, and leave aftereffects on their financial wellbeing that can take years to undo,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “I commend the fine work of the Old Dominion University Police Department in bringing Mr. Owens to Justice, and we will always work to hold accountable the people who commit financial crimes.”

Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Gordon C. Ufkes prosecuted Mr. Owens’ case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and ODU Police Detective Destini S. Williams led the investigation.

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April 26, 2024

ODU Student Pleads Guilty to Stealing Banking Info, Forging Checks in 2023

NORFOLK, Va. — Michiah Kadafi Owens, 26, was convicted on Wednesday of check forgery, uttering (using) a forged check, credit card theft, and attempting to obtain money by false pretenses after he pleaded guilty to transferring money to himself from another man’s phone and cashing stolen checks last year.

In October, a man acquainted with Mr. Owens through work reported to law enforcement that, after letting Mr. Owens borrow his phone on one occasion, he later discovered Mr. Owens used that opportunity to set up a banking app account on the phone from which Mr. Owens transferred the man’s money to himself. Following that report, Old Dominion University Police officers searched Mr. Owens’ campus residence and found numerous checks and debit cards belonging to a different victim. Officers located that victim, who told them that he had lost his wallet earlier in the year. Further investigation revealed that Mr. Owens successfully forged and cashed two of the checks between August and December.

On Wednesday, Mr. Owens pleaded guilty to the four felony charges, and Judge Robert B. Rigney accepted his plea with no agreement to his sentence. Mr. Owens is docketed for sentencing on May 24.

“Fraud costs honest people every day, and for victims it often creates lasting headaches as they try to recover their money and correct their credit reports,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Whether one steals with a gun, a check, or a phone, we will work to hold accountable the people who commit these crimes.”

Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Gordon C. Ufkes is prosecuting Mr. Owens’ case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and ODU Police Detective Destini S. Williams led the investigation.

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