EAST ST. LOUIS – Three men were sentenced to prison for their roles in a scheme involving counterfeit credit and debit cards used to defraud gas station patrons. U.S. District Judge Stephen P. McGlynn imposed the sentences on Monday in southern Illinois, highlighting the seriousness of the financial crimes.
Dee E. Day, 31, of Belleville, received a 30-month prison sentence and was ordered to pay $14,295 in restitution. Marquise Q. Golliday, 29, of Collinsville, and Montuelle F. Wright, 33, of East St. Louis, were each sentenced to 28 months in prison.
All three men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
“Financial exploitation and identity theft crimes are serious offenses with lasting effects on victims, but thankfully, our law enforcement partners worked swiftly to disband this criminal ring,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe.
Court documents reveal that the defendants utilized counterfeit cards that displayed one set of information on the front, while the routing information was modified and reencoded on the cards’ magnetic strips. This encoded data included the victims’ names and card numbers.
“Financial crimes perpetrated on law-abiding citizens often have lasting effects on unknowing victims,” said Special Agent in Charge Dai Tran of the Chicago Field Office of the U.S. Secret Service. “The U.S. Secret Service is dedicated to stopping and deterring such crimes to safeguard our nation’s financial security as well as innocent people.”
The fraudulent activities involved more than 130 transactions across accounts belonging to 34 victims, totaling over $14,000. Most of the fraudulent transactions occurred at a gas station in Sauget between November 1 and November 5, 2019, with additional incidents reported at gas stations in Columbia and Fairview Heights, as well as Valley Park, Mo.
The U.S. Secret Service led the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Reed overseeing the prosecution of the case.
