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Press Release
Contact: Halsey B. Frank
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257
Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Manuel J. Arruda, 46, of Windham, Maine was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge Jon D. Levy to three months in prison and two years of supervised release for mail and access device fraud and identity theft. He was also ordered to pay $11,962.85 in restitution. Arruda pleaded guilty to the charges on February 20, 2015.
According to court documents, in March of 2012, the defendant applied on-line, over the Internet, for a Chase Bank Freedom credit card in the name of another person. In doing so, the defendant used the victim’s name, date of birth and Social Security number. He obtained the victims personal identifiers using his position as service manager at a car dealership in Portland when the victim brought his truck in for servicing. Chase Bank approved the application and mailed two credit cards to the defendant in Windham. Between about March and December of 2012, the defendant used the card to make about $12,000 worth of purchases, took over $2,300 in cash advances, made payments of about $1,200, and received about $350 in credits.
In pronouncing sentence, Judge Levy stated that identity theft is a serious crime that involves significant planning and causes more than monetary harm and that some incarceration was required to deter others who might be similarly inclined.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.