NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
John L. Brownlee United States Attorney Brian McGinn Public Affairs Specialist |
BB&T Building 310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906 Roanoke, Virginia 24011 (540) 857-2974 FAX (540) 857-2179 |
February 26, 2008
TWO FORMER ROANOKE RESIDENTS SENTENCED TO 65 MONTHS IN JAIL FOR INVOLVEMENT IN A CREDIT CARD AND IDENTITY THEFT CONSPIRACY
United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that Landy Diaz, age 29, and his wife, Letty Mellor, age 33, both of Orlando, Florida, were sentenced on February 22, 2008, to 65 months each in federal prison by the Honorable Glen E. Conrad, United States District Judge, for their involvement in a credit card and identity theft conspiracy.
“This sentence makes certain that these two defendants will be out of the counterfeiting business for some time,” U.S. Attorney John L. Brownlee said today. “I want to thank all of the members of the United States Secret Service, the Roanoke City Police Department and the Roanoke Valley Financial Crimes Task Force for the hard work and long hours they put in on this case.”
Diaz and Mellor were convicted by a federal jury sitting in Roanoke, Virginia on December 13, 2007 on seven counts of credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Diaz managed the members of a conspiracy who stole credit card numbers from patrons of two local restaurants. In order to aid in the scheme, Mellor and other members of the conspiracy obtained jobs as servers at those local restaurants.
The details in which the scheme was carried out, as presented at trial were as follows. After a restaurant customer provided Mellor with a credit card in order to pay the bill, Mellor would swipe the customers’ credit card through a small electronic device that recorded all of the information contained on the magnetic strip on the back of the credit card.
That stolen credit card information was then used by Mellor and other members of the conspiracy to make counterfeit credit cards. Diaz, Mellor and other members of the conspiracy then used the counterfeit credit cards to make tens of thousands of dollars worth of fraudulent purchases of goods and services in Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Two other members of the conspiracy previously pled guilty and are currently serving prison sentences.
The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service, the Roanoke City Police Department and the Roanoke Valley Financial Crimes Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Steve Pfleger prosecuted the case.