Massachusetts Man To Serve 48 Months For Credit Card Scam

CONCORD, N.H. – Mark Pate, 47, of Dorchester, Massachusetts was sentenced in United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire to 48 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to federal charges of credit card fraud and identity theft, announced United States Attorney John P. Kacavas.
 
         Pate acknowledged that between May 15, 2010, and November 27, 2010, he stole the identities of approximately twenty-five victims and that he obtained identification cards, each with Pate’s photograph but the name, address and date of birth of one of the victims.  Pate used the identification cards to fraudulently obtain credit cards and lines of credit in the victims’ names, which he then used the to purchase goods at retailers in New Hampshire and elsewhere for which he never paid.  The total financial loss associated with Pate’s criminal conduct was approximately $24,000.

             Pate’s prosecution arose from an investigation by the Manchester (N.H.) office of the U.S. Secret Service, the Portsmouth (N.H.) Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and numerous local police departments in New Hampshire and elsewhere in New England.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Morse.