Over the past three years, a local man allegedly headed a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme from behind bars at the Glynn County detention center along with several other people including the District 5 County School Board member, according to federal prosecutors.
Asaad Amir Hasuan, aka Dante Fredrick, was named as the lead conspirator in a federal indictment unsealed Nov. 14 by the U.S. District Attorney in Delaware. The indictment alleges that Husuan perpetrated fraud against family and friends of his fellow inmates in Glynn County by coercing them to transfer millions of dollars in money and property to him and co-conspirators.
Husuan, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for false imprisonment, is now accused of falsely promised legal assistance, physical protection and investment opportunities to his victims’ incarcerated loved ones. He allegedly implied that fellow inmates were at risk of bodily harm, or even death to spur victims into these deals.
Federal prosecutors say that Husuan relied on eight others who acted as “money mules.” The indictment states that these other people received and transferred the illicit proceeds outside prison through various cash-based businesses, such as a car rental company operating under the name “One Way Auto.”
The other people indicted include Deborah Danielstunstill, Destinee Lecount, Audrey Gibbons, Penny Hunter, Beverly Fredrick, Lakisha Easton, Jasmine Warren and Manuel Joseph Rocha.
Gibbons, who serves as the District 5 representative for the Glynn County School Board, told The Current that she denies any wrongdoing. She first heard of the charge against her on Nov. 25.
She said she would seek counsel to represent her ahead of the arraignment, which is scheduled for Dec. 11.
It was not immediately clear how many of the defendants had legal representation. Calls to the U.S. District Attorney’s office in Delaware were not immediately answered.
Glynn County Undersheriff Mario Morales said that the his department, which runs the county detention center, requested assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation as far back as 2021.
“Dante even while in jail, was taking advantage of other inmates and people across the country,” said Morales. “You ever get one of those calls that say hey, we’ve got a warrant for your arrest, because you didn’t show up to grand jury, that’s the kind of calls that he would do, except for, he would confiscate your property, he’d do it all.”
Frederick was indicted on April 12, and he is currently in federal custody in Delaware. The indictment, however, was only unsealed on Nov 14.
The details of the operation are not entirely clear. Frederick used Paytel Communications, which allows inmates to pay for phone calls, texts, or video chats with people outside the jail through technology managed by the company, according to Morales. He allegedly would communicate in coded language to coconspirators in an attempt to obfuscate the true nature of the conversations.
Federal prosecutors say Gibbons shared three bank accounts with Hunter.
Gibbons, who is also a licensed accountant, admits that Hunter was a business client. She explained that someone referred Hunter to her office to do the bookkeeping and sales tax for an auto business. Hunter wanted to make sure that she could pay the sales tax and payroll as needed, so her name was on the account to process the payroll, Gibbons said.
“I was hired by Penny Hunter of OneWay Automotive rental to do payroll and sales tax,” she said.
Gibbons said she had no insight into the business leadership, except that Hunter referred to the person in charge as “boss man.”
Gibbons said she has no familial or other relationships with any of the other defendants, although she acknowledged that she knew Fredrick as a community resident.
According to Georgia law, when an elected official is indicted on a felony charge, there is a process to determine whether they should remain in office while the charges are prosecuted. Either the prosecuting district attorney or the Attorney General must send a certified copy of the indictment to the Governor. After a waiting period of 14 days from the receipt of the indictment, the Governor is required to appoint a review commission. This commission consists of the Attorney General and two local public officials.
They have 14 days to provide the Governor with a written report assessing whether the indictment “relates to and adversely affects the administration of the office of the indicted public official and whether the rights and interests of the public are adversely affected as a result.”