Two people were arrested Wednesday in connection with an ongoing investigation targeting scammers defrauding elderly victims in the area.25-year-old Josiah Kamal Smith of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and 33-year-old Briana Brittany Norwood of Northport, Alabama are facing felony charges of criminal attempt to commit theft of property, conspiracy to commit theft of property, and financial identity fraud.
The operation, led by the Mountain Home Police Department, began in July 2025 after law enforcement received reports of multiple fraud schemes in which suspects convinced elderly individuals to surrender large amounts of cash. Four arrests had previously been made.
In the latest operation, officers set up a controlled delivery involving $250,000 in bait money. On Monday, an elderly male cooperating with law enforcement was instructed by a scammer posing as Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery to send the cash via Federal Express (FedEx). The package was to be collected by a “Deputy Steve Rogers.”
On Wednesday morning, the FedEx package arrived at PostNet in Mountain Home. Around 11 that morning, Smith presented a fraudulent Illinois driver’s license in the name of “Steve Rogers” to claim the package and was detained.
Smith told investigators he had been recruited by another individual in Tuscaloosa to act as a “money mule” in exchange for $500. He had been dropped off by Norwood, who was also detained and found to be in possession of a fraudulent Connecticut driver’s license under the name “Angela Mullen.”
Both Smith and Norwood were booked into the Baxter County Detention Center. They are each being held on $25,000 cash bond and are scheduled to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court on Oct. 6.
The investigation involved the Mountain Home Police Department, Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations. Trilogy Media, Inc., an organization that monitors and exposes scam operations, assisted in setting up the sting.
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