Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that two Buffalo, Mo., women have pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing the identities of 20 victims to obtain unauthorized credit cards in the victims’ names.
Kelly Marie Lockhart, also known as Kelly Marie Wilson, 35, of Buffalo, waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to a federal information that charges her with one count of aggravated identity theft. In a separate but related case, Stacy R. Rosa, also known as Stacy R. Webbe, 40, of Buffalo, waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014, to a federal information that charges her with one count of aggravated identity theft.
Lockhart and Rosa admitted that they aided and abetted one another to obtain unauthorized credit cards by stealing the identity information of approximately 20 victims between April 12, 2012, and Jan. 17, 2014. They used the credit cards to make approximately $60,655 in purchases.
Lockhart and Rosa used stolen personally identifying information (including individuals’ names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and bank account information) to gain access to the identity theft victims’ bank and credit card accounts via telephone and the Internet, and to open new credit card accounts. Lockhart and Rosa obtained unauthorized credit cards issued in the victims’ names, and utilized those cards to purchase merchandise and gift cards and to obtain cash advances.
The plea agreements each cite a specific example in which they impersonated a North Carolina victim during a telephone call and obtained a secondary credit card in the name of Kelly Wilson (Lockhart’s alias). On April 22, 2013, Lockhart used the unauthorized credit card in Bolivar, Mo., to obtain a $3,600 cash advance. On April 30, 2013, Rosa used the unauthorized credit card to pay $96 for her visit to a hair salon in Buffalo.
Under federal statutes, Lockhart and Rosa are each subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.
These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich. They were investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Buffalo, Mo., Police Department and the Bolivar, Mo., Police Department.
No comments:
Post a Comment