SACRAMENTO - A Patterson man pleaded guilty today to defrauding concert promoters and investors of $550,000 by claiming to be able to secure well-known artists to perform concerts, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
Jordan Mouton, aka Big Cheeze, 39, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for falsely representing his ability to arrange concerts featuring well-known entertainment artists. Mouton also pleaded guilty to engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property.
According to court documents, Mouton held himself out as a person of substantial reputation in the entertainment industry who could secure the services of entertainment artists to perform concerts in Asia and elsewhere, including the services of artists known as Snoop Dogg, Maroon 5, and Rihanna, among others. Mouton provided concert promoters and investors numerous fraudulent documents, including documents containing forged signatures of entertainment artists and their managers.
For example, Mouton gave one victim an “Artist Management Agreement” containing a forged signature of Snoop Dogg. The agreement purportedly appointed Mouton to serve as Snoop Dogg’s “[m]anager, adviser and representative throughout China and greater Asia.” Mouton provided the same victim with counterfeit passports purportedly belonging to members of Maroon 5.
Additionally, Mouton admitted that he gave another victim letters containing forged signatures that purportedly authorized Mouton to book and organize performances by Rihanna and another artist on what Mouton and others referred to as the “Asia Monster Tour” or “Asian Monster Tour.”
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Thuesen is prosecuting the case.
U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller is scheduled to sentence Mouton on March 16, 2020. Mouton faces maximum statutory penalties of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss on the wire fraud charge.
For engaging in transactions involving criminally derived property, Mouton faces maximum statutory penalties of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the amount of property involved in the transaction. Finally, the statutory maximum penalties for aggravated identity theft are a mandatory term of two years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss.
The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
