Georgia inmate accused of targeting Lindale woman in $13k bitcoin scam
SMITH COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) - A Georgia inmate is facing a felony theft charge after a Smith County investigation linked him to a $13,000 scam targeting a Lindale woman.
According to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, on March 31, a victim in Lindale reported she had received a call from someone claiming to be with the sheriff’s office concerning a subpoena she had missed. The caller, using the name of a known employee of the sheriff’s office, instructed the victim that she needed to send $13,000 to avoid being arrested for missing her summons, according to the report.
The sheriff’s office said the caller told her to deposit the money into a bitcoin machine located in the 300 block of W. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The number that showed up on the victim’s phone was from a 903 area code, and the caller also sent her a text message indicating the amount she allegedly owed.
According to the report, after the phone conversation, the victim withdrew $13,000 from her bank account and deposited the cash into the bitcoin machine on W. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Tyler.
The case was assigned to a Smith County investigator who worked closely with the Secret Service. Investigators identified the suspect as Marcus Allen Daniels, 30, an inmate in the Georgia Department of Corrections who had a prior armed robbery conviction.
The Smith County Sheriff’s Office said that, upon contacting the Georgia Department of Corrections’ Criminal Investigations Division, it confirmed Daniels was housed at the Wheeler Correctional Facility in Georgia. According to the report, the agency conducted a shakedown on April 14, 2026, and recovered and confiscated a cellphone from Daniels’s cell.
The Smith County investigator obtained multiple messages and other information, including bitcoin wallet numbers and digital payment methods such as Cash App and bitcoin QR codes.
The Georgia Department of Corrections said the agency has an issue with scams using illegal cellphones, and Daniels was disciplined twice for unlawful possession of a cellphone.
On May 6, a warrant was issued for Daniels’s arrest and bond was set at $1 million. Daniels is currently serving a 20-year sentence in Georgia, and the warrant will be served automatically upon his release or parole.
According to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, investigators attempted to recoup the victim’s money; however, the money had gone through several private wallets, which are “difficult to access.”
Sheriff Larry Smith and the Smith County Sheriff’s Office said they will reach out to state officials about legislation to ban the use of physical cryptocurrency machines in Texas, citing legislation in other states that have deemed them a high fraud risk.
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