SPRINGFIELD — A Chicago-based rap artist and celebrity barber was the latest defendant to plead guilty in the prosecution of a nationwide fraud scheme to score luxury perks for emerging rappers and their associates.
Terrence Bender, 32, aka “Dopeblends,” pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Springfield to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He admitted being responsible for $103,000 in losses by business owners. That included money for private jet charters, luxury hotels, designer puppies and exotic car rentals acquired through stolen credit card information.
Bender is set to be sentenced on Feb. 27, 2025.
Among the defendants convicted before Bender was famed rapper G Herbo, born Herbert Wright III, the most prominent of the contingent. Wright was sentenced to three years of probation in January. The case landed in the Western Massachusetts court because one of the companies fleeced in the scheme is a charter flight company in this region.
Wright was a mostly passive player in the ring but was essentially the inspiration for the high-flying lifestyle — with most of the entourage capitalizing on the rapper’s rising fame.
Wright rose to prominence by the time he was 16. He has since been featured in Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30″ musicians roster and has performed on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon in November 2020.
Federal prosecutors unveiled their charges in December 2020.
During Wright’s sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow told a judge that Wright was undoubtedly the wealthiest person in the room — earning up to $70,000 a month through record deals.
“This was not a fraud where the defendant was stealing food to feed his family,” the prosecutor told U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni.
Investigators said the co-conspirators often used actual cardholders’ information to bolster the scheme.
“Generally, because the payment card information was authentic, the defrauded businesses and individuals successfully processed the fraudulent transactions and provided the goods and services to Bender and his co-conspirators,” an announcement from the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office says.
“The actual cardholders discovered these transactions on their accounts and disputed the charges with their card companies who then charged back the transactions to the businesses and individuals, who consequently suffered losses in the amounts of the unauthorized transactions,” the announcement adds.
