Prison sentences imposed for leaders of Athens County mail fraud case
Three Athens County defendants were sentenced to prison late last year in a mail fraud case that victimized over 400 residents.
In December of 2022, the Athens County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint of mail theft from an Athens County resident. The Sheriff’s Office received several additional complaints from other individuals over the course of the next year regarding mail theft and the misuse of checks and credit cards as a result of the thefts.
Through their investigation, deputies were able to obtain a search warrant for a residence on Byers Road in Nelsonville, the execution of which led to another search warrant being obtained for a residence at Pearlwood Road in Athens. Deputies allegedly seized thousands of pieces of mail belonging to hundreds of victims all over Athens and Meigs counties.
On Feb. 21, 2023, an Athens County Grand Jury indicted the following individuals for engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a felony of the second degree; receiving stolen property, a felony of the fifth degree; forgery, a felony of the fifth degree; and tampering with evidence, a felony of the third degree:
• Jessica Rae O’Rourke, 39, of Nelsonville;
• Brionna Mae McDaniel, 25, of Nelsonville; and
• Joseph Henry O’Rourke, 21, of Albany.
Joseph Henry O’Rourke was also indicted for burglary, a felony of the third degree and receiving stolen property, a misdemeanor of the first degree, for a separate incident that allegedly occurred in November of 2022.
Jessica Rae O’Rourke entered a plea of guilty to the indicted charges on Sept. 20, 2023 and was sentenced to a prison term of four years and 11 months to five years and 11 months.
Brionna Mae McDaniel entered a plea of guilty to the indicted charges on Oct. 20, 2023 and was sentenced to 10 to 12.5 years in prison.
For his part in the mail thefts, Joseph Henry O’Rourke entered a plea of guilty to the indicted charges on Dec. 13, 2023 and was sentenced to 10 to 14 years in prison.
O’Rourke also pleaded guilty to burglary and receiving stolen property and was sentenced to 24 months in prison.
Prosecutor Keller J. Blackburn would like to acknowledge the time and effort put into the investigation of this case by the Athens County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the Athens County Prosecutor’s Office. Individuals from both agencies spent countless hours sorting through thousands of pieces of mail and executing search warrants on residences and phones. Without their dedication, many of the victims would not have been aware that they had been victimized.