FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
October 21, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:11-cr-173-OWW

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that today United States District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill sentenced Alia Christine Brost, 35, of Bakersfield, to 27 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release for one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and two counts of credit card fraud. Brost was ordered to pay $113,600 in restitution to the victims.

According to her guilty plea, in August 2009, Brost opened a restaurant and catering business in Bakersfield with her husband, co-defendant Roberto Renteria. The restaurant, Victor Victoria's, operated until July 2010, while the catering business, Renteria Catering, functioned until September 2010.

According to court documents, Brost perpetrated the fraud by using the point-of-sale machines that processed credit or debit cards for sales at the restaurant or catering business. When a customer paid with a credit card, the customer's card would be charged for the correct amount, but after that transaction, the defendants repeatedly made additional, unauthorized charges for much larger amounts. Upon learning of the charges incurred on their credit card, customers complained to their respective credit card companies and to the defendants' restaurant. The fraudulent charges were reversed, but because of Brost's fraudulent conduct, financial institutions and the merchant processing companies sustained an aggregated loss of approximately $125,000 over an eight-month period. Brost has been in custody since her arrest on June 6, 2011.

At sentencing, Judge O'Neill stated: "The number of victims of your fraud is staggering. … Every time you get in a pickle, you steal from somebody."

This case was the product of an investigation by the United States Secret Service and the Bakersfield Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy R. Jehangiri prosecuted the case.

Charges against Renteria are pending. He is out of custody on bond and is scheduled for a hearing before Judge O'Neill on December 5, 2011. The charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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