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Press Release

Durham Man Sentenced in Scheme to Defraud Area Businesses

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of North Carolina

GREENSBORO, N.C. – A Durham resident was sentenced on November 28, 2017, for carrying out a scheme to defraud Durham businesses and aggravated identity theft, announced Sandra J. Hairston, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina.

GARY PATTERSON, 31, was sentenced to 94 months in federal prison on November 28, 2017, by the Honorable Loretta C. Biggs, United States District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina. PATTERSON had previously pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, and aggravated identity theft in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1), in relation to a scheme to defraud Durham businesses by portraying himself as a local clergyman.

Court documents reveal that PATTERSON victimized dozens of small businesses by making numerous fraudulent credit card purchases. PATTERSON made these transactions by convincing merchants to “force” the sale after the worthless and unauthorized credit card presented by PATTERSON was rejected by the bank. A merchant can “force” a transaction where the bank issuing the credit card has rejected the credit card purchase. Normally, the merchant contacts the bank and requests a code to authorize the transaction despite the bank’s rejection of the card.

PATTERSON convinced numerous merchants to force transactions that had been rejected by the card issuer. PATTERSON often presented himself as being a pastor or bishop associated with a Durham church including “Bishop Gary Johnson” and “Pastor Ed Johnson.” Using the “forced” transaction scheme and a variety of stolen credit cards, PATTERSON obtained money, goods and services from the defrauded merchants. In his assumed role as a clergyman, PATTERSON presented merchants with a debit card issued on a closed Bank of America Account in the name of “Second Chance Outreach Ministry.”

As part of his scheme, PATTERSON also represented to auto care businesses that the business had recently repaired a van from the church at which he claimed to serve as a bishop or pastor. He further represented to the auto care shop that the repair work on the church van had been paid for with a personal credit card and that he needed to pay for the work with a church credit card and receive a refund check for the work paid for on the personal credit card. PATTERSON then presented the auto care business with the “Second Chance Outreach Ministry” debit card to pay for the repair of the church van and instructed the auto care business to “force” the transaction when the sale was declined. After the transaction was forced, PATTERSON then instructed the auto care business to provide him with a check in the amount of the refund, when in fact, as PATTERSON then well knew, no repair work had been performed, the forced credit card transaction would be rejected by Bank of America, N.A., and he was not entitled to receive any refund from the auto care merchant. He then converted the refund check to his own use leaving the auto car business to bear the loss.

In addition to a 94-month term of imprisonment, Judge Biggs sentenced PATTERSON to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $72,730.66 in restitution.

The United States Department of Treasury Office of Inspector General and the Durham Police Department participated in the investigation of this case. Special Assistant United States Attorney Kennedy Gates and Assistant United States Attorney Frank Joseph Chut, Jr., prosecuted the case.

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Updated November 30, 2017