Thursday, March 22, 2012

Local Credit Card Fraudster Handed Federal Prison Sentence


CORPUS CHRISTI, TX—Steven Reese Clark, 37, of Corpus Christi, Texas, has been sentenced to federal prison for credit card fraud, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today.

Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey sentenced Clark late yesterday afternoon to 70 months in federal prison, which will be followed by three years of supervised release. Clark was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $3,606.

On December 9, 2011, Clark entered a plea of guilty to one count of credit card fraud, admitting he produced and used two counterfeit credit cards. Clark also acknowledged that at the time of his arrest, he was in possession of 248 stolen credit card slips bearing the numbers and personal information of the legitimate account holders, which were part of a batch of approximately 500 credit card slips stolen from a hotel in the San Antonio area.

Clark was part of a group of individuals using stolen credit card slips to create counterfeit credit cards. When the counterfeit cards were used, the charges would appear on the accounts of the legitimate cardholders. The two counterfeit cards in Clark’s possession had been used to fraudulently charge approximately $3,606.

Other members of the fraud ring have been convicted and sentenced to federal prison for their part in the fraud. Robert Isbell, 40, of Corpus Christi, Texas, received a sentence of 27 months; while Deborah Billings, 47, of Corpus Christi, received 30 months. Both were also ordered to pay restitution and will serve three-year terms of supervised release following completion of their prison terms.

Clark has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility in the near future.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the United States Secret Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert D. Thorpe, Jr.

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