Man bragged about credit card fraud in music videos, feds say. He’s headed to prison
The longest amount of time 27-year-old Troy McFarland spent behind bars lasted no more than a few months — until now.
McFarland, who is accused of committing credit card fraud to pay for thousands of dollars in furniture from IKEA and a Rolex, was sentenced to eight years in prison on Thursday, Dec. 16. A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia also ordered him to pay $59,467 in restitution.
Prosecutors said McFarland had been “emboldened” by lenient prison sentences and showed a complete lack of remorse after his arrest and release on bond, when he reportedly removed his court-ordered location-monitoring device and went on the run for several months.
During that time, he’s accused of releasing music videos in which he bragged about cutting off his bracelet and “ducking feds.”
“The defendant has no remorse for his crimes and the harm he has caused the victims of his fraud scheme,” prosecutors said in sentencing documents. “On the contrary, he is proud of it and has actively sought to leverage his criminal case in support of his music career.”
McFarland, who is from Portsmouth, Virginia, has remained in custody since his second arrest in March and could not be reached for comment.
His attorney, Steven L. Washington, told McClatchy News in a statement Dec. 17 they felt the judge’s sentence was “excessive” given what he referred to as McFarland’s “minimal criminal history.”
“We adamantly argued 50 months of incarceration would be sufficient but not greater than necessary,” Washington said in an email. “In addition to the avoidance of sentencing disparities with similarly situated defendants; in this case a co-defendant similarly situated. It’s just unfortunate.”
Credit card fraud
A grand jury indicted McFarland alongside his alleged co-conspirator, Daquan Pierre, in July 2020. Pierre was sentenced earlier this year to four years and two months in prison.
According to the indictment and other federal court filings, the pair’s alleged scheme spanned two months in 2018. During that time, McFarland and Pierre got a hold of credit, debit and prepaid gift cards that had been re-encoded with stolen card numbers belonging to real bank accounts in other peoples’ names, prosecutors said.
They used the cards to pay for an array of items — from motorcycle parts and hotel rooms to a rental car from Avis that McFarland later crashed, according to court documents. He’s accused of abandoning the totaled Range Rover at the scene of the accident in Virginia.
When McFarland and Pierre went to pick up the motorcycle parts they ordered, prosecutors said, the police were waiting for them. The store owners had reportedly called law enforcement on suspicion of fraud after the pair placed the order.
Pierre stopped using the stolen card information after their arrest, prosecutors said. McFarland did not.
In the months that followed, he’s accused of buying a $14,310 Rolex and dropping more than $16,000 at IKEA. Police were reportedly waiting for him when he came back to pick up the furniture, again after the store caught on to the fraudulent purchases.
Prosecutors said McFarland ultimately caused $74,353 in losses.
‘Ain’t no felon’
Pierre was arrested July 30, 2020, on the federal charges, court filings show. McFarland was arrested days later on Aug. 3, 2020.
A judge initially ordered both men to remain in detention pending trial. McFarland asked the court to reconsider, which the government opposed. But the judge relented, calling McFarland’s release a “close call” and telling him “not to violate the terms of his pretrial supervision,” prosecutors said.
McFarland pleaded guilty at the beginning of October 2020, and Pierre did the same the following month, court filings show.
A few weeks after McFarland’s plea deal, prosecutors said, he took off his ankle bracelet and “absconded from supervision.”
Law enforcement spent months looking for him, during which time he is accused of posting multiple music videos on YouTube in which he bragged about making “$30K off a $15 visa” and having 15 felonies but “but ain’t no felon.”
“Mama told me to be patient, but I couldn’t, I cut off the bracelet,” McFarland rapped in one of the videos. “Ducking feds and fighting these cases.”
He was ultimately apprehended in March, court documents show.
Prosecutors asked for a higher sentence than the recommended guidelines, saying McFarland was “emboldened by lenient sentences from courts inclined to give him another chance.”
“To date, the longest sentence, he has received is 12 months, with 10 months suspended,” the government said. “This approach has proved ineffective at stopping the defendant from committing more crimes.”
McFarland’s defense attorney opposed the request, saying McFarland had a “chaotic and often unstable childhood” coupled with substance abuse and “untreated mental health issues.”
“While Mr. McFarland sits in prison he will not just be reflecting on his criminal history, he will also be reexamining his entire life and the ways in which he makes decisions,” his lawyer said in sentencing documents. “He will be reflecting on the life he wants to have with his family and the need to live up to his family’s expectations.”
The judge ultimately agreed with prosecutor’s request for a longer sentence, giving McFarland 96 months with credit for time served and five years of supervised release.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Man bragged about credit card fraud in music videos, feds say. He’s headed to prison."
