Credit Card Fraudster Sentenced to More Prison Time for Violating Supervised Release

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JONATHAN PRESTON, 27, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 14 months of imprisonment for violating the conditions of his supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, beginning in approximately 2010, Preston operated a scheme in which he used the internet and other sources to obtain personal identifying information of several prominent individuals, including entertainers and professional athletes, and used that information to pose as these individuals to gain access to their credit card accounts.  Through this scheme, Preston and another individual made more than $500,000 in unauthorized purchases and cash withdrawals.

Preston was arrested and subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  On May 27, 2014, Judge Shea sentenced Preston to 46 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release.  He was released from federal prison in August 2017.

On February 22, 2019, Preston was arrested by Hartford Police on fraud, larceny and identity theft charges.  The investigation revealed that Preston fraudulently obtained an American Express card for an account belonging to a prominent entertainer’s business, and then used the card to make multiple charges and attempted charges, causing a loss of $13,296.93.

At the conclusion of today’s sentencing proceeding, Judge Shea ordered Preston remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to begin serving his sentence.

Preston will be on supervised release for 22 months when he is released from prison.

The state charges against Preston are pending.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah R. Slater.