Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings, on January 14, 2009, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, PATIENCE ISAACS appeared for sentencing. ISAACS was sentenced to a term of:

• Prison: 27 months

• Special Assessment: $100

• Restitution: $55,010

• Supervised Release: 3 years

ISAACS was sentenced in connection with her guilty plea to bank fraud.

In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

ISAACS and another individual went to at least 11 banks in the Bozeman/Livingston area in

September of 2007. ISAACS would present a credit/debit card and seek a cash advance - always under $10,000. When the card was swiped, it would come back declined. She would tell the bank employee to call the customer service number. The purported customer service agent would then provide codes that would create a "forced" transaction, essentially overriding the card-machine. This is a well-known scheme for credit/debit card fraud. With the transaction going through, ISAACS would receive her money. Banks in Montana lost over $60,000 through this scheme, and there is additional attempted loss. Evidence at trial would have included video surveillance of ISAACS.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that ISAACS will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, ISAACS does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric B. Wolff prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 

 

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