Charlotte Identity Thief Sent To Prison For 75 Months

NEW BERN - United States Attorney John Stuart Bruce announced that today in federal court United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced MAURICE ANTHONY DRUMMOND, 30, of Charlotte, to serve a total of 75 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, on charges of Aggravated Identity Theft and Conspiracy to Commit Access Device Fraud.  DRUMMOND was also ordered to make restitution of $86,691.56 to his victims, and to forfeit certain equipment used in the scheme.

At sentencing the Government argued that the defendant was involved in a scheme from 2013 to 2016 to obtain and use stolen credit card information to facilitate a scheme to acquire and sell large quantities of diesel fuel for resale.  After acquiring stolen credit card information, DRUMMOND encoded the information onto used gift and credit cards.  DRUMMOND then took the cards to various gas stations located throughout North Carolina, where he would use them to make large fuel purchases.  DRUMMOND pumped the fuel into large storage containers held under a shell on the back of pickup trucks.  DRUMMOND later resold the fuel at truck stops and other locations for a profit.

In 2014, DRUMMOND was captured by local authorities in Granville County in possession of hundreds of stolen credit cards and a machine used for re-encoding such cards.  DRUMMOND was captured again in 2015 by local authorities in Charlotte as he continued to carry out the scheme while on release from state custody.

DRUMMOND pleaded guilty on March 16, 2016 to Conspiracy to Commit Access Device Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft.

Investigation of DRUMMOND’s case was conducted by the United States Secret Service, with the assistance of the Granville County Sheriff’s Office, and the Gastonia Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney William M. Gilmore represented the United States.