Orlando, Florida - United States Attorney Robert E. O'Neill announces that Richard Middleton (36, New York) pleaded guilty today to possessing device-making equipment, with intent to defraud, and possessing a false identification implement intended to be used in the production of a false identification document. Middleton faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison on each of the two counts. His sentencing hearing is scheduled before Senior U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp on Aug. 21, 2013. Middleton was indicted on Feb. 27, 2013, and arrested in the Eastern District of New York on March 6, 2013.
According to documents, on Aug. 20, 2011, deputies from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on a room that Middleton occupied at a timeshare resort in Kissimmee. Inside the room deputies recovered equipment used to manufacture counterfeit credit cards and false identification documents, including a credit card embosser, a foil press “tipping" machine, card making devices, MasterCard hologram stickers, blank plastic cards and holograms typically used in genuine state issued identification cards and driver licenses, more than 1,000 blank American Express and Visa credit cards, and a laptop computer. A forensic review of the laptop revealed evidence indicating its use in the charged crimes.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service, with assistance from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew C. Searle.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
