An Ohio resident has admitted guilt to charges related to the illegal possession of credit card encoding devices. Sean Matthew Langston, Jr., 33, from Columbus, was apprehended in Rankin County on April 28, 2024, after a traffic stop. Authorities discovered Langston and his co-defendant, John Carleton Johnson, Jr., with approximately 322 gift cards, seventeen reencoded instruments containing stolen bank card data, and two magstripe encoding devices.
Court records indicate that surveillance footage captured both individuals using cloned cards to purchase gift cards at several retail stores in the Jackson metropolitan area. Langston pleaded guilty to one count involving the illegal possession, production, or trafficking of device-making equipment with intent to defraud. He is scheduled for sentencing on April 14, 2026. The charge carries a maximum penalty of fifteen years in federal prison; however, the final sentence will be determined by a federal judge based on sentencing guidelines and statutory considerations.
A three-count indictment against Langston and Johnson was issued by a federal grand jury on February 20, 2025. Johnson entered a guilty plea on June 30, 2025. On November 3 of the same year he received a sentence of two years in federal prison along with a $5,000 fine.
United States Attorney Baxter Kruger for the Southern District of Mississippi announced the developments alongside U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Davis and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch.
The investigation is being conducted by the United States Secret Service in partnership with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation as part of their Cyber Fraud Task Force. Additional assistance came from the Mississippi Highway Patrol and Flowood Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly T. Purdie is handling prosecution for this case.
