CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been sentenced to nearly eight years in federal prison for fraudulently arranging utility services to be provided to 2,000 properties in exchange for fees.DAVID W. BROWN offered to arrange electricity and natural gas services for residential and commercial properties in the Chicago area in return for fees. After finding property owners and tenants willing to pay him, Brown opened new accounts for utility services at their addresses, knowing that neither he nor the purported customer intended to pay for it. Brown knew it would typically take from 90 days to several months for the utility companies to disconnect service for lack of payment, allowing the addresses to receive free services for significant periods of time.
Brown opened the accounts using false customer names and identifying information to deceive the service providers. Once a utility company initiated the process to terminate service, Brown often continued the service by fraudulently opening new accounts in the names of different false customers at the same address.Brown typically received payments ranging from $50 to $150 every few months from the property owners and tenants who received the services. From 2017 to 2024, Brown caused Commonwealth Edison, Nicor Gas, and People’s Gas to fraudulently provide at least $8.5 million in services to more than two thousand residential and commercial properties in the Chicago area.Brown, 56, of Chicago, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to a federal wire fraud charge. On Tuesday, U.S.
District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt sentenced Brown to 92 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay approximately $8.5 million in restitution to Commonwealth Edison, Nicor Gas, and People’s Gas.The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.
“Defendant’s scheme caused significant losses to local utility service providers,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick D. Young argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “The fees collected by defendant demonstrate that his primary motivation was to benefit himself.”