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Traveling Credit Card Fraud Ring Sent to Prison

Posted at 6:00 PM, Dec 19, 2013
and last updated 2013-12-19 18:00:41-05

credit card fraud picsGRAND RAPIDS, Mich – Eight Michigan residents will serve time behind bars for their role in an elaborate identify theft scheme that was carried out in the Grand Rapids and Lansing areas.

In May 2012, The U.S. Secret Service worked in coordination with Meijer loss-prevention specialists to identify and arrest eight Detroit residents that bought high-value Meijer gift cards using credit cards that had been re-encoded with account data from compromised credit card accounts.

The in-store cards were used to buy high-end products such as iPads, iPhones and laptop computers.  At the time of their arrests, investigators had said more than $75,000 worth of products were stolen.

The scheme also turned violent in May.  A U.S. Secret Service agent was injured trying to arrest two of the suspects involved in a Meijer parking lot.  The agent was caught on the hood of the suspect’s vehicle and carried about 50 feet before violently hitting the ground.

The following suspects involved received the following sentences:

  • Sharonique S. Pointer, 22, will serve 24 months behind bars
  • Charles J. Finley, 26, will serve 10.5 years in prison and pay $95,489 in restitution
  • Mark A. Houston Jr., 24, will serve 36 months behind bars
  • Donald D. Peterson, 26, will serve 33 months behind bars
  • Gary K. Smith-Brown Jr., 27, will serve 36 months behind bars
  • Adrian R. Evans, 26, will serve 75 months behind bars
  • Dewain J. Clark, 29, will serve 24 months behind bars
  • Deaunte G. Finley will be sentenced on January 13, 2014