COVINGTON, KY - Four individuals from Michigan admitted they used other people’s credit card information to make purchases at retail stores in Campbell, Kenton and Boone Counties.
Tyhkan S. Brunson, 34, John Cotton, 23, Adam Sanford, 24, and Brittany Bell, all from Detroit, Mich., pleaded guilty to charges related to the use of unauthorized credit cards and aggravated identity theft.
Court documents state that earlier this year, in one day’s time, the defendants used a variety of legitimate card numbers to purchase approximately $4,000 combined in gift cards and other merchandise from the Home Depot, Meijer and Wal-Mart.
In May of this year, when Cold Springs Police in Campbell County conducted a vehicle stop of the defendants, officers located fraudulent credit cards. They also found Brittany Bell trying to destroy merchandise receipts by chewing them.
Kerry B. Harvey, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Mark A. Porter, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service jointly announced the pleas.
The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service. The indictment was presented to the grand jury by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura K. Voorhees.
The defendants will appear for sentencing on December 20, 2012 in Covington. Brunson and Cotton face a maximum of 12 years in prison while Sanford and Bell face up to 7 years imprisonment. However, the sentence imposed by the Court will come after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statutes.
