Second New York woman pleads guilty to credit card fraud

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A second New York City woman pleaded guilty today to credit card fraud, announced Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto. Sasha Nelson, 21, entered her guilty plea to possession of 15 or more counterfeit access devices. A counterfeit access device is a credit card that has been altered to contain stolen account information that is magnetically re-encoded on the credit card. 

Nelson admitted that she, along with codefendant Nayosha Aice, possessed 78 counterfeit access devices. Nelson and Aice drove from New York City, using these counterfeit credit cards to buy cartons of Newport cigarettes and other merchandise. They were observed at the St. Albans Go-Mart using multiple counterfeit cards on June 25, 2015, and, after noticing the suspicious behavior, store employees contacted law enforcement. Nelson further admitted that once she realized police were observing them, she hid some of the credit cards on a shelf in a nearby store, while Aice threw some of the credit cards away in a nearby garbage can. Officers recovered the credit cards and subsequently confirmed that the credit cards were counterfeit access devices.

Nelson faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine when she is sentenced on September 15, 2016. Her codefendant, Nayosha Aice, also of New York City, previously pleaded guilty on June 8, 2016, and is scheduled to be sentenced on the same date.

The St. Albans Police Department and the United States Secret Service conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Erik S. Goes and Eric Bacaj are in charge of the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr.

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