Two Atlanta area men were sentenced to federal prison Wednesday for their roles in a credit card theft ring, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Norman Uriah Simmonds, 33, of Lilburn, and Steven Michael Jackson, 28, of Atlanta, pleaded guilty to thefts involving the use of “skimming” devices, which copy and store debit and credit card information.
“These two defendants were part of an organized scheme involving at least 11 people, some of whom worked at local restaurants and stores, who tried to make a living by selling and using stolen credit cards,” said U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in an emailed statement. “This case demonstrates that consumers need to be aware of the risks of using credit cards, and that they need to check their accounts regularly for unexplained purchases or activity.”
After retrieving the card account numbers from the skimmers and processing the data, the defendants transferred the stolen account numbers to the magnetic stripes of blank white plastic cards or gift cards using device-making equipment, Yates said. Then, the defendants used the altered cards to purchase things of value, including U.S. postal stamps from automated postal centers throughout Georgia.
Simmonds was sentenced to serve 8 years, 6 months, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $107,324. Jackson was sentenced to serve 5 years, 1 month, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $33,254.
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