Randolph County Resident Pleads Guilty To Federal Credit Card Fraud Charges

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Matthew G.T. Martin, United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, announced today that ANTHONY THOMAS HARRELSON, 39, of Sophia, North Carolina, pleaded guilty in federal court in Greensboro before the Honorable N. Carlton Tilly, to seven felony charges of use of an unauthorized access device (i.e., a credit card).

HARRELSON pleaded guilty to using credit cards fraudulently obtained from J.P. Morgan Chase Bank and American Express. The indictment alleges that HARRELSON purchased merchandise, jewelry, gold coins, meals at restaurants, vehicles, and firearm parts in excess of $350,161.47 with the fraudulent credit cards. The exact amount of the loss will be determined by the Court at sentencing.

The defendant faces a maximum potential penalty of seventy years imprisonment. The plea agreement requires HARRELSON to make restitution and to forfeit money and goods acquired from use of the fraudulent credit cards. Sentencing is scheduled for federal court in Greensboro on June 27, 2019, at 2 p.m.

The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Randolph County Sheriff's Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Frank J. Chut, Jr. and Steven N. Baker.

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