Criminal’s Story #12 – Sheri L. Reeves

Crime Type: Money Laundering/Money Mule

Crime Country: USA

TRUE CRIME DISCLAIMER

This is a true crime story from the actual criminal’s story as obtained from official and media sources, enhanced and fictionalized for clarity by the SCARS Institute Editorial Team. We utilized the SCARS Institute’s AI ‘Jane’ to dive deeper and delve into the minds of these criminals, scammers, and fraudsters, crafting their real stories to reveal their potential motivations and methods. Understanding these perpetrators helps us combat and disrupt crime/scams/fraud more effectively, empowering us with the insights needed to protect others. No assertion is made about the guilt or innocence of the individual(s) depicted in this story other than what was published previously.

WARNING: THIS SCAMMER’S OR CRIMINAL’S STORY MAY BE TRIGGERING TO SOME PEOPLE. DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

ADVERTENCIA: LA HISTORIA DE ESTA CRIMINAL O ESTAFADOR PUEDE SER INSENSIBLE PARA ALGUNAS PERSONAS. SE RECOMIENDA DISCRECIÓN.

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A Criminal’s Story

Caught in the Trap

I’m Sheri Reeves, 55, from Kennett, Missouri, a small town where everybody knows your business. I’ve spent my life working hard, raising kids, scraping by on a cashier’s wage. By 2020, I was drowning in debt, my car was breaking down, and the bills kept piling up. That’s when I met James online, or so I thought. He said he was a businessman, stuck overseas, sweet-talking me with promises of a future together. I didn’t know I’d end up a criminal, sentenced to 15 months in prison in May 2025 for moving $565,000 in someone else’s money. They call me a money mule, say I helped steal from a fraud victim. I didn’t start out wanting to hurt anyone. Let me tell you how I got sucked in, who I was dealing with, and why I kept going even after the FBI knocked on my door.

It began with an email, simple enough, from James on some dating site. I wasn’t looking for love, not really, but his words felt like a lifeline. He said he was in Dubai, running an import business, and he needed help with his accounts while he was tied up. I’d never done anything like that, but he made it sound easy, like I was doing him a favor. He asked me to open a Bank of America account in Jonesboro, Arkansas, just across the state line, on June 9, 2020. I did it, thinking it was temporary. Then he said he needed a partner’s name on the account to process some payments, a woman whose name I didn’t recognize. I added her, figuring it was just paperwork. Soon, money started flowing in, big money, $565,000 in three transfers. I didn’t ask where it came from. James said it was his, tied up in a deal, and I believed him.

The job was to move the money, keep it flowing. James would text me instructions: buy cashier’s checks in Tennessee or Arkansas, send cash through a CoinFlip crypto ATM in Dunklin County, or wire it to accounts he gave me. Sometimes I’d withdraw cash myself, thousands at a time, and send it to people I never met. I’d drive hours to different banks, my heart racing, but James always had an answer for my nerves. He’d send me $500 here, $1,000 there, as a thank-you. That money paid my electric bill, fixed my car, kept the lights on. I wasn’t stealing, I told myself. I was just helping a friend, someone who cared about me. The victim, some lady whose name was on my account, I didn’t know her. James said she was part of his business, and I didn’t dig deeper. She was probably old, like most scam victims, with savings I could only dream of. I didn’t think about her losing everything.

Then the FBI showed up, summer of 2020. Two agents at my door, saying I was part of a fraud ring, that the money wasn’t James’ but stolen from someone’s life savings. I froze, my stomach churning. They told me to stop, to cut contact with James, or I’d be in trouble. I wanted to listen, I did. But James called the next day, his voice calm, saying the FBI was wrong, that they were after him for being foreign. He said he needed me, that we’d be together soon if I just kept helping. I was scared, but I was in too deep. The money, those little payments, they were all I had to keep my head above water. So I kept going, sending checks, wiring cash, until the feds arrested me in 2023.

Why did I do it? At first, I was fooled. James made me feel special, like I mattered. I was lonely, broke, and he dangled hope in front of me, a way out. After the FBI warning, it wasn’t about love anymore. It was survival. I couldn’t pay my bills without those cuts, couldn’t face my kids if we lost the house. Part of me knew it was wrong, but I told myself I wasn’t the one stealing, just moving money. I wasn’t hurting anyone directly, right? I ignored the guilt, pushed it down, focused on the next task. There was a rush, too, in being part of something bigger, even if I didn’t understand it all. I felt useful, needed, for the first time in years.

It fell apart fast. The feds traced the transfers, indicted me in April 2023, and by November 2024, I pleaded guilty in Cape Girardeau to bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. The judge sentenced me to 15 months, ordered me to pay back $565,000 I’ll never have. Sitting in this cell, I see it now. I was used, a pawn in James’ game, and I let myself be played because I was desperate. I didn’t mean to hurt that woman, whoever she was, but I did. If I could go back, I’d tell myself to listen to the FBI, to walk away. But back then, I couldn’t see a way out. I just kept moving the money, hoping it’d all work out.

Source:  https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmo/pr/dunklin-county-woman-sentenced-aiding-565000-fraud

Confirmed Facts

From June 9 to October 21, 2020, Reeves, 55, acted as a money mule, transferring $565,000 in fraud proceeds from a victim’s Bank of America account to co-conspirators. She opened an account in Jonesboro, Arkansas, added the victim’s name, and received three electronic transfers. Reeves sent funds via cashier’s checks from Tennessee and Arkansas, a CoinFlip cryptocurrency ATM in Dunklin County, and shared account details with others, withdrawing cash or checks. Despite FBI warnings, she continued. She pleaded guilty in November 2024 to aiding and abetting bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and wire fraud, and was sentenced to 15 months in prison with $565,000 restitution.

Notes on Assumed Motivation

Reeves’ motivations are inferred from her role as a money mule and the context of her actions. Initially, she was likely a romance scam victim, manipulated by a fraudster posing as a romantic partner, a common tactic to recruit mules. Financial desperation, typical in economically challenged areas like Dunklin County, drove her to continue after the FBI warning, as small payments from the scheme were critical for survival. The narrative’s varied tones—naive, desperate, regretful—reflect her transition from unwitting participant to complicit mule, balancing manipulation, fear, and rationalization, grounded in the case’s facts.

Copyright © 2025 SCARS Institute

SCARS Institute Notes:

Legal Disclaimer: The above narrative represents an interpretation and extrapolation based on all available information about the case. Achieving 100% factual accuracy remains impossible due to the inclusion of supposition and fictionalization to create a complete story and monologue. We aim to present a coherent account of the criminal’s perspective solely for entertainment purposes. We derive no income from this endeavor, offering it purely in the public interest. The criminal did not participate in this process.

Fictionalized True Crime Disclaimer: This story offers a dramatized account inspired by real events, crafted to explore the criminal’s perspective for entertainment purposes. We base the narrative on publicly available information, supplemented with fictional elements to create a cohesive storyline, and do not claim complete factual accuracy. The characters, dialogue, and specific motivations reflect artistic interpretation and do not represent the actual thoughts or actions of the individuals involved. We intend this work to raise awareness about the dangers of financial fraud, and we derive no profit from its publication, presenting it solely in the public interest. The depicted individuals did not contribute to or endorse this narrative.