Virginia Woman Charged Federally With Identity Theft

The United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that criminal proceedings have been initiated against Deshanell Cannon, age 23, of Portsmouth, Virginia.

According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, a criminal information was filed today in U.S. District Court in Scranton charging Cannon with identity theft in connection with the unlawful use of a bank account number of a legitimate account holder on fraudulent gift cards and credit/debit cards.  The case arose as a result of investigations by the Pennsylvania State Police and Dickson City Police and seizures of suspected credit/debit and gift cards from a vehicle in March 2014.  The federal investigation was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service.

The government also filed a plea agreement in the case, which must be approved by the court. 

Cannon allegedly used fraudulent credit cards to gain access to the identification of another person.

Cannon faces a mandatory term of imprisonment of 24 months and a fine in the amount of $250.000.

Prosecution is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Olshefski.

Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.