A man who posed as an Uber driver to scam four people out of more than $24,000 in downtown nightlife districts last year has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Meanwhile, his older brother, who was sent to prison for doing the exact same thing in 2016, is about ready to wrap up his parole.
Lance Baymon, 40, has pleaded guilty to operating a continuing financial crimes enterprise and identity theft in a plea deal with prosecutors. Judge Charles Burns sentenced him to four years on the first charge and two years on the second. Prosecutors dropped 27 counts of felony identity theft in the deal and Baymon will receive 510 days credit for time served before sentencing.
Prosecutors said Baymon, who was on parole for previous ID theft convictions at the time, posed as a ride-hail service driver to pick up victims near bars in River North and Loop during the summer of 2019.
After unwitting passengers got into Baymon’s fake Uber, he asked for their debit cards and usually swiped the victims’ cards into a reader on his phone, according to prosecutors.
He later used the card information to take money from the victims’ accounts. A source told CWB that police recovered a collection of stolen debit cards from the rental cars Baymon used.
Meanwhile, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records, Baymon’s older brother Marlon’s parole for operating an identical scam will wrap up in April.
Marlon Baymon, age 47, was arrested in December 2016 after a woman accused him of posing as an Uber driver to steal her credit card information and take $1,200.
The victim told police she got into Baymon’s car near Clark and Ontario because she thought it was her Uber ride. When they arrived at her destination, Baymon allegedly told her the app was malfunctioning and insisted that she hand over a debit card for payment. He swiped the card on his phone and made her enter her PIN — information that he later used to access her money, according to prosecutors.
The older Baymon pleaded guilty to operating a continuing financial crimes enterprise in August 2019 and received a five-year sentence. He was paroled three months later and will remain on parole until April 20, according to IDOC.
He has a lengthy criminal history for felonies including theft, misuse of debit and credit cards, robbery, and DUI.
