Ohio Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Device-Making Equipment

Jackson, MS – An Ohio man pleaded guilty on June 30, 2025 to illegally possessing magnetic stripe credit card encoding devices.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on the morning of April 28, 2024, John Carleton Johnson, Jr., 32, of Canal Winchester, Ohio, was arrested in Rankin County following a traffic stop wherein he was found to be in possession of approximately 322 gift cards, seventeen reencoded instruments containing stolen bank card data, and two magstripe encoding devices. Johnson and his co-defendant could be seen on CCTV footage at various retail stores throughout the Jackson metropolitan area purchasing gift cads with known cloned instruments.

Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of possession or trafficking of device-making equipment with intent to defraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 23, 2025, and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Lemon of the Southern District of Mississippi, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Davis, and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch made the announcement.

The United States Secret Service, Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are investigating the case through their partnership in the Cyber Fraud Task Force with assistance from the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Flowood Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly T. Purdie is prosecuting the case.