St. Louis Man Sentenced for Identity Theft

A St. Louis, Missouri man was sentenced on Friday, July 8, 2011, to 57 months in federal prison as a result of his convictions for access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. Miltiano Trevaris Johnson, 31, was further placed on a three-year term of supervised release following his imprisonment, and given a $200 special assessment. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the 19 victims of his actions. These convictions resulted from Johnson’s entry of a guilty plea to the charges on June 10, 2011.

“This type of offense is nothing more than blatant robbery.” said United States Attorney Wigginton. “While the thief might not use a weapon, his actions are no less devastating to the victims. I applaud such a lengthy sentence in a case where some might view the criminal actions as only the non-violent theft of funds.”

The facts of the case, as revealed during Johnson’s guilty plea and sentencing hearings, were that sometime in late January or early February, 2010, Miltiano Johnson met a restaurant hostess on a social telephone chat line. Eventually the two began dating. The hostess worked at Amarillo Tex’s Steak House in Alton, Illinois.

After the hostess and Johnson had been dating for a few weeks, the hostess told Johnson where she worked. Johnson said he could help her with money if she would use a credit card skimmer box to collect credit card information from customers at the restaurant. He showed her how to use the skimmer box.

After learning about the box, the hostess heard a waitress at the steak house complaining about money. The hostess told the waitress that she could make more money if she would skim credit cards for Johnson. Later that day, the hostess called Johnson and Johnson brought the skimmer box to the restaurant.

After the waitress skimmed customers’ credit card information, Johnson went back to the restaurant to pick up the box. He stored the card numbers, and then he gave the waitress the skimmer again to get more customers’ information. Johnson, his wife and his friend then used the victims’ credit card numbers at various stores in Missouri and in Illinois to purchase items.

This case was brought by the Federal Bureau of Investigations Cybercrimes Task Force, and in particular, by Detective David Vucich of the Madison County Sheriff’s Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicole E. Gorovsky.