BOISE - Charles Moore, 25, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, Jonathan Penn, 20, of Suwanee, Georgia, and Terrance Barimah, 26, of Floranceville, Georgia, each pleaded guilty yesterday in United States District Court for their roles in a credit card fraud scheme that targeted local retailers in October of 2014, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. The defendants were indicted on Nov. 13, 2014.
Moore pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to the plea agreement, Moore traveled to the District of Idaho, along with his co-defendants, for the purpose of making fraudulent purchases of gift cards and prepaid debit cards from retail stores, using stolen credit card numbers encoded onto stock debit cards. Moore admitted to obtaining the stock debit cards encoded with unauthorized credit card numbers, and making purchases at retail stores on October 5, 2014. In all, Moore admitted to traveling to five separate retail stores, and making 29 total purchases, using nine different credit card numbers that he was not authorized to use. Upon his arrest, Moore was found in possession of $2,740 in cash and 43 gift cards and pre-paid debit cards. Sentencing is set for July 7, 2015, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.
Penn pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to the plea agreement, Penn traveled to the District of Idaho, along with his co-defendants, for the purpose of making fraudulent purchases of gift cards and prepaid debit cards from retail stores, using stolen credit card numbers encoded onto stock debit cards. Penn admitted to obtaining the stock debit cards encoded with unauthorized credit card numbers, and making purchases at retail stores on October 5, 2014. In all, Penn admitted to traveling to five separate retail stores, and making 24 total purchases, using six different credit cards numbers that he was not authorized to use. Upon his arrest, Penn was found in possession of three debit cards encoded with unauthorized credit card numbers, and 30 gift cards. Sentencing is set for July 8, 2015, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.
Barimah pleaded guilty to one count of illegal possession of device-making equipment. According to the plea agreement, Barimah traveled to the District of Idaho, along with his co-defendants, for the purpose of making fraudulent purchases of gift cards and prepaid debit cards from retail stores, using stolen credit card numbers encoded onto stock debit cards. Barimah admitted obtaining blank stock pre-paid debit cards from his co-defendants, and encoding them with credit card numbers belonging to real individuals who had not authorized the defendant or his co-defendants to make purchases on the accounts. Barimah provided the debit cards encoded with unauthorized credit card numbers to his co-defendants, and expected to receive cash payment and/or a portion of the proceeds of the fraud. Upon his arrest, Barimah was found in possession of 41 gift cards representing the proceeds of the fraud, a laptop computer, and a "mini magnetic strip card reader/writer" that was used to encode the cards. Sentencing is set for July 8, 2015, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, a term of supervised release of not more than three years, and a $100 special assessment. Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of two years, a term of supervised release of not more than one year, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a special assessment of $100. Illegal possession of device-making equipment is punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a term of supervised release of not more than three years, and a $100 special assessment. As part of their pleas, the defendants also agreed to forfeit $49,953.41 in cash proceeds of the charged offenses.
Moore, Penn, and Barimah were indicted, along with Rakeen Anderson, 31, of Atlanta, Georgia, Kyandre Banks, 34, of Lilburn, Georgia, Jean Estinville, 26, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, Rashine Kale, 38, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, Clarence Collins, 34, of Douglasville, Georgia,
Mikki Williams, 24, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Brian Treadwell, 25, of Buford, Georgia, on charges relating to a wire fraud and identity theft scheme. Collins, Banks, Estinville, Kale, Moore, Penn, Williams and Treadwell were each charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Anderson was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Barimah was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and illegal possession of device-making equipment.
Co-defendant Brian Treadwell is scheduled for sentencing before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill on June 16, 2015. Co-defendant Clarence Collins is scheduled for sentencing before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill on June 17, 2015. Co-defendant Mikki Williams is scheduled for sentencing before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill on June 16, 2015. Co-defendant Rashine Kale is scheduled for a change of plea hearing before Chief U.S. Magistrate Candy W. Dale on May 12, 2015. Co-Defendant Rakeen Anderson is scheduled for a change of plea hearing before Chief U.S. Magistrate Candy W. Dale on May 26, 2015. Co-Defendant Jean Estinville is set for a change of plea hearing on a date to be scheduled. Co-defendant Kyandre Banks remains a fugitive.
The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Boise Police Department.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
