former KC man sentenced for identity theft, credit card fraud
restaurant waiter targeted customers on the plaza
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for stealing identity information from customers at the Plaza restaurant where he worked, then using that information to make online purchases.
John David Woody, 35, of Los Angeles, Calif., formerly of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan to three years in federal prison without parole.
On Jan. 22, 2010, Woody pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft, credit card fraud and mail fraud. Woody admitted that in July and August 2008 he gained access to the credit card numbers of 20 customers at the Brio Tuscan Grille in the County Club Plaza while he was employed as a waiter at the restaurant. Woody used an electronic device to skim the magnetic strip on the back of credit cards to capture all the credit and identity information necessary to effect financial transactions without the knowledge and authority of the cardholder. The credit cards were then returned to the customers.
Woody used customers’ identity information and credit card numbers to place online orders, including thousands of dollars worth of boxed sets of DVDs.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Cowles. It was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.