Like so many of us, Kaj Miller, 49, almost never answers her home phone anymore.
Turns out that she was the one in trouble.
Kaj didnt believe him.
I had just served on a jury three months before.
So I pushed back and told him I thought it was a scam.
I asked to talk to his supervisor.
She pressed 3 for Court Services Division.
Kaj told Garrison that there must be some mistake; he responded kindly, saying she was probably right.
But only the court could say so, and it was closed.
Meanwhile, the warrants were still live.
Otherwise, Kaj would likely spend the rest of the weekend in jail.
Im all alone; its midafternoon on a Saturday.
I was terrifiedlike, really terrified.
So she decided to follow Garrisons instructions.
By this time, Kaj had had it.
After a testy back-and-forth with Garrison, she hung up and nervously waited out the weekend.
On Monday she called the San Diego Police Department, and an officer confirmed her fears.
He was two years into serving a 30-year sentence for cocaine distribution.
Lopez and Tate had all these tools.
And they got very good at using them, playing off each others strengths.
Tate, a gifted talker, was the closerhe had a knack for persuading people to send him money.
Lopez and Tate were hardly alone in their fraud business.
At least 17 other Autry inmates were in on the scam as well.
One of the most important parts of the conspiracy was to smuggle cellphones into the prison.
By law, inmates arent allowed to have them.
But overcoming that is often just a question of jailhouse economics.
The most common strategy was simply to bribe the guards.
A prison guard in Georgia makes $15 to $20 an hour.
As Perkins told the FBI, I can pay them $1,000 in one day for a cellphone.
Whos not going to take the chance?
Its just like Las Vegasyoure just taking the chance.
If you get caught, you get caught.
If you dont, you dont.
Then, either corrupt guards or inmates would pick them up.
More than 100 cellphones were found hidden inside.
How widespread is the use of contraband cellphones in prison?
Perkins said that of the 90 people in his dorm at the Autry facility, 65 had illegal cellphones.
Mostly they targeted individuals living in wealthy neighborhoods.
Its easier to get money from people who have money, Lopez later testified.
And they are more likely to not want to go to jail.
The internet and a smartphone made locating them a cinch.
So I would just go in the area around it and start calling people.
Lopez liked to phone his victims late in the afternoon, hoping no one was home.
If the victim pressed 3, Captain Dwight Garrison, Lopezs cellmate, responded.
Once Tate or Lopez got someone on the phone, the spoofing continued.
Tate and Lopez also played off each other.
Lopez would be the dumb cop, pretending to know only that a warrant had been issued.
He would tell victims to call Tate for more information.
The scammers also needed someone to launder the payments.
Thats where Reginald Perkins came in.
I picked it up and asked if anyone lost a $300 Green Dot card.
This little dude said it was his.
Well, that got me in with them, because they trusted me.
For the next six months, Perkins became one of the most popular inmates at Autry State Prison.
At his trial, Perkins confirmed the process.
What does that smile mean?
Perkins proceeded to brag that he had about 100 women working for him in all 50 states.
You are in prison and you are able to take that much money."
Kaj was just one piece of the puzzle.
This individual told inmates at Autry that he had a contact on the outside who could launder money.
What he didnt tell them was that that guy was the lead FBI agent on the case.
He was able to secretly videotape Lopez and Tate practicing their scam craft.
Perhaps the bad guys should have seen what was coming.
During the next two years, most of the 51 individuals pleaded guilty, including Lopez and Tate.
The inmate was convicted; the woman was found not guilty due to insufficient evidence.
Although federal prosecutors were pleased by the convictions, the court found the crimes disturbing.
Well, here is a person who is in prison and is still a danger to society.
The amount of money that was takenover $1 millionits mind boggling when I think about it.
You are in prison and you are able to take that much money.
Your case really troubles the court.
Did the convictions teach a lesson to other inmates?
Several other cases have since been brought against prisoners in Georgia prisons for perpetrating the jury duty scam.
He conducted his crimes in 2017, well after the bust and guilty pleas of his fellow inmates.
And what about Lopez?
After pleading guilty in December 2017 and testifying against two of his coconspirators, he still awaits sentencing.
He has made peace with his decision to testify.
I caused a lot of torment and trouble to people we were scamming, he explained.
I did that for two years, high on dope, living the good life inside a prison.
And in order for me to correct that, Ive got to make amends with it.
