Kenner Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Access Device Fraud

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that JOHN PAUL PIERRE, age 29, of Kenner, pled guilty today to conspiracy to commit access device fraud.

According to court documents, PIERRE’s co-conspirator, RYAN CLAVERIE, worked as a waiter in a restaurant in Metairie. During the course of his employment, CLAVERIE routinely handled the credit and debit cards of restaurant patrons. CLAVERIE had a credit card “skimmer” that extracted customer account information from the magnetic strip on the back of a credit card and a bank debit card and logged it for later download to a computer.

PIERRE and his co-conspirators used the captured electronic account information contained on the magnetic strips of these valid cards in order to manufacture and produce counterfeit credit cards with which to fraudulently obtain things of value for their own personal gain at several retail stores and establishments in the metropolitan New Orleans area.

PIERRE faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, a fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.  U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon set sentencing for March 16, 2017.

U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the United States Secret Service, New Orleans Field Office, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the New Orleans Police Department, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Kenner Police Department for investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Loan AMimi@ Nguyen is in charge of the prosecution.