Jury Convicts Bay Area Man Of Knowingly Receiving Stolen Property

SAN FRANCISCO - Alexander Kosmin was convicted of one count of Receiving Stolen Property that had Traveled in Interstate Commerce by a federal jury yesterday, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. The guilty verdict followed a five day jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer.

The evidence at trial showed that Kosmin, 23, formerly of San Jose, California, knowingly received stolen cellular telephones, including iPhones, that had been fraudulently ordered on AT&T and Verizon online customer accounts. The customer accounts were unlawfully accessed online. Orders in the names of other persons were placed on the accounts and shipped to locations that did not correspond with the addresses of the true customers on the accounts. In connection with the fraudulent orders, the defendant arranged to have the stolen cellular telephones sent to various hotels in the Bay Area from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. When Kosmin picked up the stolen cellular telephones he used numerous false names and presented false identity documents in those names. The jury found that the value of the stolen cellular telephones was $5,000 or more. After receiving the stolen cellular phones, Kosmin sent the phones to a co-conspirator in Russia, who has not yet been identified, or sold the cellular phones using Craigslist. After selling the stolen phones, Kosmin, using his name and false names, wired half of the proceeds back to his co-conspirator in Russia.

The investigation began after AT&T contacted the National Cyber Forensic Training Alliance (NCFTA) regarding fraudulent orders on customer accounts. The NCFTA referred the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Kosmin was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 26, 2012. He was charged with one count of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and one count of Receiving Stolen Property that had Traveled in Interstate Commerce. Kosmin was acquitted, upon motion to the Court, of the Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud count in the indictment.

Kosmin was remanded into the custody of the United States Marshal following his conviction. The sentencing hearing in this matter is scheduled for July 10, 2013, before Judge Breyer in San Francisco. The maximum statutory penalty for Receiving Stolen Property that had Traveled in Interstate Commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2315 is 10 years, a fine of $250,000, 3 years supervised release, and restitution. However, any sentence will be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Michelle Kane and Denise Barton are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Paralegal Denise Oki and Legal Assistants Janice Pagsanjan, Rayneisha Booth, and Elizabeth Garcia. The prosecution is the result of a 7 month investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation

(Kosmin Filed indictment )