Iowa City police assist in investigation of phone scam run from Georgia prison

The Iowa City Police Department was one of several law enforcement agencies across the country who helped with the investigation of four men, who have now been charged and sentenced, that police say scammed victims in several states by pretending to be law enforcement officers.

The scam was run out of a Georgia state prison, according to a news release from the United State’s Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Russell Tafro Weatherspoon, 26 — who was in prison following a 2020 conviction for aggravated assault and violation of Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act — was running the operation, which was ongoing between March 2022 and April 2024, the release states.

Weatherspoon obtained cellphones for the scam by having someone fly them over the prison yard with a drone and drop them inside. He and other prisoners used the phones to call victims in several states, using an app that spoofed law enforcement phone numbers, according to the release.

They targeted victims who worked in the medical field and, while using the name of a real law enforcement officer, claimed there was a warrant out for the victim’s arrest for failing to appear in court after being subpoenaed, and that the victim would be arrested unless they posted a cash bond, according to a criminal complaint.

Weatherspoon had conspirators around the country, including in Iowa, who would meet the victims to collect the fake bonds, the complaint states.

Weatherspoon and three other men — Karl Andre Dieudonne, 23, Demonte Tequis Brazil, 32, and Gregory Lamar Scorza, 25 — were charged in federal court with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and have since been sentenced. Weatherspoon was sentenced in April to 130 months in prison, Dieudonne was sentenced in May to 36 months in prison, Brazil was sentenced in May to 51 months in prison, and Scorza was sentenced this month to 72 months in prison. One other man has been charged in the conspiracy but has not yet been arrested, the release states.

“After completing their terms of imprisonment, each defendant will be required to serve a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Victim restitution was also ordered,” the release states.

The Iowa City Police Department contributed to the investigation after a local victim reported they had been scammed by someone pretending to be a deputy from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, according to the police department.

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