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Press Release

Former State Department Employee Sentenced To 30 Months In Prison For Carrying Out Identity Theft Scam-Got Access To Information While In A Student Work Program-

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia

      WASHINGTON – Rodney P. Quarles, Jr., 26, of Charlotte Hall, Md., was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for taking part in an identity theft scam in which he and others used stolen credit cards to make more than $70,000 in purchases.

      The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Barry Moore, Assistant Director for Domestic Operations, U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, Gary R. Barksdale, Inspector in Charge, Washington Division, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and David Beach, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office, U.S. Secret Service.

      Quarles pled guilty in October 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a charge of conducting illegal transactions with credit cards. He was sentenced by the Honorable Richard W. Roberts. As part of his plea agreement, Quarles agreed to pay $71,774 in restitution to Chase Bank USA NA.

      According to a statement of offense, signed by the defendant as well as the government, Quarles worked from September 2007 through March 2008 for the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. He was a member of the student work program, assigned to the Washington, D.C., Passport Office. His job responsibilities primarily consisted of destroying old passports and passports that had been reported lost or stolen. Part of the process entailed accessing files of individuals whose passports were being destroyed on a State Department database.

      During his time on the job, Quarles agreed to engage in a conspiracy in which he and others used, without authorization, stolen credit cards to purchase goods and to obtain funds. The scheme’s participants included a mail sorter for the U.S. Postal Service, who stole envelopes that he suspected contained credit cards. The names on these cards were passed along to Quarles, who used the State Department database to retrieve information that helped activate the accounts.

      With the accounts activated, Quarles and others used the stolen credit cards to purchase goods and obtain funds in the District of Columbia, Maryland and other jurisdictions. All told, the conspirators completed transactions totaling at least $71,774 to obtain cash, jewelry, high-end electronic equipment, gift cards, and other items. During the scheme, Quarles and others also unsuccessfully attempted to conduct another $133,494 in transactions.

      In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director Moore, Inspector in Charge Barksdale, and Special Agent in Charge Beach commended the efforts of those who investigated the case from the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Postal Inspection Service, and Secret Service. They also praised those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Carolyn Cody, Tasha Harris, and Lenisse Edloe; Victim Advocate Yvonne Bryant; Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine K. Connelly, who investigated the matter, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Graves, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.

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Updated February 19, 2015