On Thursday, January 25, 2018, it was announced that a Central Falls man had been sentenced to prison for his participation in a scheme to use the stolen identity of numerous individuals to open retail store credit cards. The defendant used those cards to purchase tens of thousands of dollars worth of items in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 25-year-old Reynaldo Martinez was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison.
Martinez pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated identity theft, two counts of access fraud and one count each of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, attempted access fraud and interstate transportation of stolen goods. Martinez has also been ordered to serve three years of supervised release upon the completion of his sentence term.
Martinez will also be required to pay restitution totally $38,126.62 to the businesses he defrauded. At the time of his guilty plea, the defendant admitted that he used various sources, including Internet websites, to acquire personal identification information of individuals. Then, he would have false, counterfeit government identifications made bearing his photograph.
Martinez admitted that he used those counterfeit identifications to secure credit and make purchases at various businesses, including Sprint, Kohl’s, Sak’s Fifth Avenue, Best Buy, Home Depot, and more. The defendant confessed to using the stolen credit to make between $40,000 and $90,000 in purchases. Additional details regarding the sentencing can be found here.