A Georgia man implicated in the state’s first retail fraud case under a new set of rules passed by Kansas lawmakers two years ago and involving alleged incidents in Emporia has now been booked into the Lyon County Jail.
Dwayne Rhoden, age 40 of Lithonia, Georgia, was booked Wednesday on suspicion of identity theft, defrauding to receive benefits of up to $100,000, as well as criminal use of a financial card up to $25,000 and conspiracy to criminally use a financial card up to $25,000. Formal charges have not posted to the Kansas District Court Public Access Portal.
Rhoden was named as a co-defendant in a case involving Demetrius Odom, age 30 of Decader, Georgia. The Kansas Attorney General’s Office mentioned both as involved in stealing from several liquor stores across Kansas, including four in Emporia. Odom was originally charged with seven total counts ranging from identity theft to criminal use of a financial card to conspiracy. Scheduled jury trial dates in Odom’s case were canceled earlier this year as the case took steps towards mediation. Discovery processes are underway.
Last month, Attorney General Kris Kobach announced the sentencing of 31-year-old Jahzavya White of Stone Mountain, Georgia, to 18 months of probation and nearly $12,000 in restitution by Lyon County Judge Lee Fowler. White was listed as part of “a coordinated scheme to defraud multiple liquor stores in Lyon County,” but the Attorney General’s Office has not said whether White was part of the case involving Odom and Rhoden and there are no official connections on the District Court Public Access Portal.
