News and Press Releases
Last of seven sentenced for credit card fraud scheme targeting people at restaurants
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS – The last of seven defendants was sentenced earlier today in federal court
in St. Paul in connection with a credit card skimming operation that resulted in an estimated loss
of more than $150,000. United States District Court Judge Richard H. Kyle sentenced Demetrius
Darnell Thomas, age 36, of Rogers, to 96 months in prison on one count of conspiracy to commit
bank fraud. Thomas was indicted on August 19, 2010, along with six co-defendants. He pleaded
guilty on November 15, 2010.
On May 18, 2011, Kanetra Danielle Range, age 33, of Rogers, was sentenced to 42 months
on one count of conspiracy, and Makiesha Edwina Mayo, age 30, of St. Paul, was sentenced to
18 months on one count of conspiracy. On April 6, 2011, Anthony Duane Curry, age 24, of
Plymouth, was sentenced to 27 months on one count of conspiracy. Brian Craig Davis, age 48, of
Chaska, Nancia Raquel Range, age 35, of St. Paul, and Brandon Conique Scott, age 29, of
Eagan, were sentenced to time served. All six pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy.
According to court documents, the defendants participated in the skimming scheme during
the last several months of 2009. Skimming occurs when an account number is transferred from
one debit or credit card to another without the authorization of the cardholder. Once the cards are
skimmed, bogus cards with the stolen account information are used to purchase merchandise and
obtain cash.
During the course of this scheme, Kanetra Range and Thomas recruited restaurant workers
to obtain customer credit and debit cards for skimming. Scott, who worked at the Split Rock
Grill in Bloomington, provided those cards to his co-conspirators, who actually sat at a table in
the restaurant with a machine that read each card’s magnetic strip. Scott also admitted that
between $10,000 and $30,000 in unauthorized purchases were made by co-conspirators with the card information he obtained.
Curry, who worked at an Olive Garden restaurant, provided card data to his co-conspirators
using a skimming machine. He admitted that between $30,000 and $70,000 in unauthorized
purchases were made by co-conspirators with the card information he obtained.
Mayo worked at two different Wendy’s fast-food restaurants, where she ran customer credit
and debit cards through a skimming machine provided to her. She admitted that between
$120,000 and $200,000 in unauthorized purchases were made by herself and co-conspirators
during the course of the conspiracy.
Davis admitted receiving re-encoded credit and debit cards from Thomas and Kanetra
Range. He then made between $150,000 and $200,00 in unauthorized purchases with those
cards.
Nancia Range also admitted making purchases with debit and credit card information
skimmed from the cards of other people. Moreover, she admitted being part of a separate bank
fraud conspiracy with Kanetra Range and Thomas that ran from 2007 to 2008. In that scheme,
they applied for and received credit cards online using the personal information of others. In
total, she admitted to being responsible for between $120,000 and $200,000 in losses from the
two schemes. With respect to the separate scheme, Thomas and Kanetra Range admitted that the
losses were at least $400,000.
This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”),
the St. Paul Police Department, the Edina Police Department, the St. Louis Park Police
Department, and the Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force.
The Financial Crimes Task Force was established pursuant to state law. It is comprised of
local, state, and federal law enforcement investigators who work to combat the growing trend of
cross-jurisdictional financial crimes. The task force is overseen by an advisory board, also
created pursuant to state law.
The case against these seven Minnesotans is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney
LeeAnn K. Bell.
The USPIS and the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office want to remind people to protect
themselves from identity theft. For more information, visit
http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/websites/idtheft.html
This law enforcement action is in part sponsored by the interagency Financial Fraud
Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and
proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. It includes representatives from a
broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local
law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil
enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive
branch and, with state and local partners, investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes,
ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial
crimes.
