Willie D of the groundbreaking Houston group The Geto Boys remains incarcerated of federal fraud charges.
As reported last week by AllHipHop.com, Willie D was arrested by federal authorities and charged with wire fraud for allegedly scamming numerous foreign buyers out of Apple iPhones.
According to court documents, Willie D (William James Dennis) used a front company named Texas One Wireless for the scam.
When a buyer through eBay showed interest, the Houston rapper would have them place the order outside of eBay through email.
After banking the electronic funds transfers in his personal account, Willie D allegedly would forward a false tracking number without ever delivering the goods.
Wire fraud is a federal crime which yields a maximum fine of $250,000 and 20 years in prison.
A Houston federal magistrate has required that Willie D hand over his passport, and listed his bond at $100,000.
For release, the Houston emcee will have to come up with 10% of the stated amount ($10,000).
At press time, Willie D, 42, remains in federal custody at a Houston detention center.
http://www.allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2009/05/19/21580601.aspx
Geto Boys’ Willie D Arrested For Alleged iPhone Scam
Rapper faces up to 20 years for selling electronics online and never delivering them.
The Geto Boys rapper Willie D (born William James Dennis) was arrested by FBI agents on Wednesday night at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston and charged with wire fraud in connection with an alleged plot to sell iPhones over the Internet and then never delivering them.
According to the Houston Press, the arrest warrant in the case alleges that D, acting through a shell company called Texas One Wireless, arranged to sell iPhones and other electronics to overseas buyers over the Internet. Beginning in September 2008, Willie D allegedly used eBay to establish his credibility with international buyers. Once a buyer became interested, D then allegedly moved the transaction outside of eBay to an e-mail account.
Once the buyers had electronically transferred money into his account, the warrant claims, the rapper would send tracking numbers for packages that were never shipped. When the shipments never arrived and the buyers complained about not receiving their purchases, officials allege the rapper claimed he filed a complaint with the U.S. Postal Service or the carrier handling the shipment, but that he could not refund their money until he tracked down the goods.
At some point, investigators claim, Dennis would stop communicating with the buyers, which led one of the disgruntled customers to contact law enforcement authorities. The charge carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
D earned his fame as the leader of the legendary Houston underground rap grew the Geto Boys, whose 1991 album featured the bleak, iconic #1 single, “Mind Playing Tricks on Me,” which he co-wrote. He quit the group in 1992 for a solo career, only to rejoin four years later for the group’s reunion album, The Resurrection.
The rapper appeared before a U.S. Magistrate judge in federal court on Thursday, according to the Houston Chronicle, and is due back in court on Friday (May 15), when it will be determined if he will be offered bail, since prosecutors consider him a flight risk.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1611472/20090515/geto_boys.jhtml
Davey D's Hip Hop Corner 
Wow!
This is exactly why we need House Resoulutions like HR 848 or whatever. These washed up hip-hop artists need some type of unemployment/retirement insurance after their brief contribution to the game. I recommend that after you sell a certain amount of records, you automatically have to pay the so-called “HIp-hop” industry a large fee for employment/retirement insurance. They got these hip-hop people robbing bakns, running scams – time for the industry to help a brother out!!!
Willie D is far from being washed up. Did you hear the song he did with Rick Ross, Bun B, Tre The Truth and Young Buck? Willie smash all them boys. Anyway the feds can’t be trusted. They are more corrupt than any rap artist could ever be. Good luck Willie. In time this will be behind you and I’m sure you will bounce back even stronger.