A Milford man has pleaded guilty to defrauding a Connecticut resident out of more than $150,000 through a phony investment scheme and a separate charge accusing him illegally having a gun when he falsely posed as an FBI agent.
Marc Anthony Alexander, 45, appeared Thursday in federal court in New Haven where he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
The charges combined carry a maximum of 35 years in prison. The sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
According to federal authorities, a business known as “Traveling Graces, LLC” was registered in the state in 2022. Melanie Ham, 40, of Norwalk was registered as its agent while Alexander was listed as a manager, officials said.
Between July and December 2023, Alexander and Ham misrepresented to a Connecticut resident that Traveling Graces was a legitimate business and they were looking for investors, according to authorities. Authorities allege that Alexander had met the victim on a dating app.
The victim provided two bank checks totaling $167,000 to Alexander and Ham, which they allegedly used for themselves, officials said.
In May 2024, officials said Alexander claimed to be an FBI agent when he met with an employee of the residential community where Alexander was living. He said he needed additional parking spaces assigned to him for professional reasons, according to authorities.
Officials said Alexander wore clothing that made him appear to be a legitimate FBI agent, showed a fake badge and had a Hellcat 9mm pistol in a holster. Authorities said he was barred from having the gun because of his previous criminal history.
Alexander’s history included a conviction in April 2017 for his involvement in a scheme related to the theft and negotiation of postal money orders that defrauded the U.S. Postal Service of more than $300,000, officials said. He was also convicted at that time in a separate scheme that involved the fraudulent sale of financed vehicles, which defrauded lenders of more than $1 million, according to authorities.
In connection with those accusations, Alexander was sentenced in federal court in New Haven to 96 months in prison and three years of supervised release, officials said. He was released from prison in February 2023.
In February 2024, while he was on supervised release, Alexander was arrested by Stamford Police for illegal operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, illegal operation of a motor vehicle under suspension, illegal operation of a motor vehicle without minimum insurance and failure to drive in a proper lane, officials said.
Then in November 2024, Alexander allegedly used a bank statement he manipulated with false information to facilitate the purchase of a vehicle from a car dealership in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, officials said. He also allegedly gave a false address to his probation officer, left Connecticut without permission and opened nine new lines of credit — all of which authorities said violated the terms of his supervised release.
Alexander has been in federal custody since Jan. 13, 2025. On Feb. 26, 2025, he was sentenced in Hartford federal court to two years in prison for violating the conditions of his supervised release.
Ham, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud during a hearing in November, is still awaiting sentencing.