All Eight Members of DC-Area Restaurant Card-Skimming Ring Plead Guilty

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae/Pressreleases/06-JunePDFArchive/09/20090608snowdennr.html

According to court documents, from November 2007 to March 2009, Joseph Artemus Bush III, age 28, of Fort Washington, Md., Aaron D. Gilbert, age 25, of Bowie, Md., and Erick V. Burton, age 38, of District Heights, Md., conspired to pay servers at restaurants in Washington, D.C., – including Clyde’s, M&S Grill, and 701 Restaurant – to “skim” the credit card numbers of paying customers. Bush, Gilbert and Burton re-encoded existing credit cards with the skimmed card numbers and used the cards to purchase gift cards and merchandise at retail stores in northern Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia and elsewhere.

The scheme resulted in thousands of transactions with skimmed credit card numbers, resulting in a known loss estimated at $736,393 affecting more than 50 financial institutions. Authorities also recovered several fraudulent IDs and Social Security cards with Gilbert’s photo and established a separate scheme in which he had applied for lines of credit at various stores – including Zales, Kay Jewelers, Home Depot, Sears, Circuit City, and Lowes – using other individuals’ names and identifying information. Gilbert used the credit lines to purchase merchandise, which Bush later sold for half the face value.Bush, Burton and Gilbert shared in the proceeds of those sales.

According to court documents, Bush paid the servers $20 per skimmed credit card number. Those who have pled guilty in this case include the following servers:

• Jamaal Snowden, age 26, of Upper Marlboro, Md., who worked at Clyde’s Restaurant and is responsible for card numbers that resulted in approximately $107,000 worth of purchases affecting 10 financial institutions. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31, 2009.

• Simone Carrie Diane Folk, age 28, of Brentwood, Md., who worked at M&S Grill and is responsible for card numbers that resulted in approximately $137,500 worth of purchases affecting 33 financial institutions. She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17, 2009.

• Vasha Monique Carter, age 31, of St. Augustine, Fl., who worked at M&S Grill and is responsible for card numbers that resulted in approximately $21,000 worth of purchases affecting 11 financial institutions. She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31, 2009.

• Shannon Eileen McLaughlin, age 23, of Oxon Hill, Md., who worked at M&S Grill and is responsible for card numbers that resulted in approximately $150,000 worth of purchases affecting 50 financial institutions. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 7, 2009.

• Lavelle Payne, age 41, of Washington, D.C., who worked at 701 Restaurant and is responsible for card numbers that resulted in approximately $50,000 worth of purchases affecting 10 financial institutions. She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24, 2009.

Each server pled guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Gilbert pled guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and knowingly using a means of identification of another person. He faces seven and a half years in prison, a $250,000 fine, full restitution, and three years of supervised release for the access device fraud charge and a mandatory minimum of two years for the aggravated identity theft charge, which must run consecutive to any sentence imposed for the conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24, 2009.

Bush and Burton pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and knowingly using a means of identification of another person. They each face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine, full restitution, and five years of supervised release for the bank fraud charge. They also face a mandatory minimum of two years for the aggravated identity theft charge, which must run consecutive to any sentence imposed for the bank fraud conspiracy. Bush is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 21, 2009. Burton is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31, 2009.