Gerald
Drexal Rogers, Jr. was arrested by the FBI on 02/12/03 in
Springdale, Ohio...
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Capture Story
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Follow-Up Story on Charges
Update:
Rogers was sentenced in Volusia County, FL on July 3, 2003
to 36 months in a Florida state prison for the charges of
Grand Theft of a Vehicle. He was ordered to pay
restitution of over $14,000.00 to the car dealership from
whom he stole the vehicle. It was this charge that
prompted the FBI to issue the Unlawful Flight to Avoid
Prosecution charge that eventually led to his arrest in
Tennessee in 2/03.
The successful
apprehension of Rogers ended two years of searching
by members of a Kentucky family who were defrauded by Rogers
and nearly eleven months by CUFF members and police officers in
multiple jurisdictions across the U.S.
The
apprehension was made as a result of efforts led by the
FBI. Information provided to them by victims and
police in Germantown, TN where Rogers pulled a rent scam in
January 2003 in addition to anonymous tips enabled the agency to find and arrest him within a few weeks
once they put their resources to work. CUFF has spoken
to the FBI case agent and we can't laud her and the other
agents enough for their conscientiousness and competence.
Jessica Evans, the 22-year-old daughter of the Kentucky
family who was defrauded and who had been reported missing
by her family, was found with Rogers in Ohio. Her
family is thrilled to know she is well and will soon be able
to see and talk to them again.
It
was Sarah Farris of Kentucky, the aunt of Jessica Evans and
the sister of the Kentucky woman defrauded by Rogers, who
initiated the search for Rogers in early 2001. She was
able to sleuth her way through an unconnected string of data
that eventually led her to the real identity of Gerald
Rogers, a man who had appeared out of nowhere in late 2000
and convinced Jessica that he was a Hollywood agent who
could make her a star. Over the ensuing months,
Jessica's parents "loaned" Rogers tens of
thousands of dollars to help Jessica's career plans.
When the family finally realized they were dealing with a
con artist, Rogers disappeared with Jessica in tow.
Since March 2002, when Farris contacted CUFF via the Web
site, members have worked closely with her and her family
providing research and encouragement, contacting
law enforcement jurisdictions who had been hit by Rogers,
tracking down victims and
initiating publicity in the local press where Rogers was
wanted for his scams.
It was the family's persistence that led to the FBI's
involvement in July 2002 with the attachment of the Unlawful
Flight to Avoid Prosecution charge to the Florida Grand
Theft warrant.
The search for Rogers led through at least 15 states and 41
jurisdictions as CUFF members and Jessica's family used the
Internet and police agencies used the NCIC to follow his
scams. However, for nearly a year, he was always one
town or one state ahead of the law - until February 12, 2003
when justice was finally served.
As a result of information in Rogers' CUFF database record,
the Germantown, TN landlord was able to convince local
police that the rent scam was premeditated, just like in
other states, and was not a civil landlord/tenant
dispute. Rogers is being charged with Theft of
Services for the scam.
Rogers faces charges in so many jurisdictions that it will
be many, many years before he is free to prey on
unsuspecting victims again. And when he is released,
suspicious victims can search the Straight Shooter database
where they will find his criminal history and mug shot -
even if he changes his name again.
The successful apprehension of Rogers demonstrates that
citizens can play an important part in finding fugitives -
by communicating via the Internet and sharing the
information they obtain with law enforcement. And just
think how many victims would have been spared if the
Kentucky family had been able to search the Straight Shooter
database when they first became involved with Rogers.
*********************************************
Warrant Information
Rogers
is a career criminal with a conviction record going back to at least
1968 who travels the country is a stolen vehicle scamming
retail clerks and landlords. His previous convictions
are typically fraud-related,
including passing bad checks.
(1) The Volusia
County Sheriff's Dept. in Florida holds an arrest
warrant for Grand Theft, issued 5/2002, and the FBI has added Unlawful Flight to
Avoid Prosecution to the charge. In April 2002 Rogers
signed a cash purchase agreement for a car at a Daytona
Beach, FL car dealership, then persuaded the sales personnel
to allow him to drive off the lot before he paid for
it. Rogers has successfully pulled this scam at least
twice before - once in California in 2001 and in Tennessee
in the early 1990's.
(2)The FL Dept. of Law Enforcement is also
seeking Rogers for probation violation for the charge of
Failure to Return a Rented Vehicle.
Rogers is known to have committed some
kind of scam in over 41 jurisdictions in at least ten states
since he was released on probation in Florida in 1998.
(3) The Bowling Green, KY Police Department issued a
warrant for theft in 12/02. The warrant is for a scam
he has pulled in numerous states on retail clerks involving
a greeting card. He asks the clerks to exchange
his smaller bills for hundred dollar bills, which he puts in
a greeting card envelope. When he counts his bills, he
claims to
be short and says he'll go to his car to get the rest of the
money. When he does not return, the clerks check the envelope, only to find newspaper clippings instead of
the hundred dollar bills they thought they saw him put
inside. Clerks have been taken for as much as $400.00. Rogers is currently on the Bowling Green, KY
Crime Stoppers Web site with a posted reward of
$1,000. (View the Bowling Green, KY PD Wanted Poster
above.)
(4) Germantown, TN Police Department is looking for
Rogers for a flimflam scheme he pulled on a local business
and a local landlord in January 2003. The landlord
scheme, which he has pulled in at least four other states,
involves a promise to pay rent that never
materializes. He usually claims to be an executive on
an expense account with a large corporation. He tells
the landlord that the company will pay the rent or he
promises to prepay himself for several months rent within a
few days. Landlords say he is very believable, which
is why they agree to let him move in before paying. He
always disappears without a trace when he realizes the
landlord intends to pursue legal action or call the police.
Rogers also employs a COD scam in which he convinces the
manager of a store that he is the owner of a nearby store who
urgently needs to borrow a few hundred dollars to pay for an
imminent COD delivery. The unsuspecting manager lends
his "neighbor" the money and never sees him again.
Rogers also has an outstanding warrant for
theft in New Castle County, Delaware.
Rogers has a known criminal
conviction history in Texas, California, New Mexico and Florida.
He is known to be a compulsive gambler, particularly at racetracks.
As of 1/03 he was driving a stolen gray Chevrolet Tahoe with
a front vanity plate: "I Love My Dog" and a stolen
Florida plate: A24RFN.
Rogers was reported to have grown a beard or goatee at his
last hits in Kentucky in December 2002. He may or may
not wear glasses.
