ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Sherry Taylor, 40, of Crete, Ill., was sentenced today to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for access device and bank fraud based on her use of counterfeit credit cards in a multi-state shopping spree.

            Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and David E. Beach, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee.  Taylor was found guilty at trial on April 6, 2011.

            According to court documents and evidence at trial, Taylor used counterfeit credit cards embossed with fake names but tied to the accounts of the true account holders.  She also used counterfeit IDs in names that matched the cards.  Although she lived in the Chicago area, she traveled to other states to make large purchases at retail stores like Costco, Safeway, and Wal-Mart.  During one two-day period in late September 2010, she bought more than $57,000 worth of computer equipment and cameras at Costco stores in Northern Virginia.  In total, Taylor caused $429,033.08 in losses to credit card companies and retail stores.

            This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service.  Assistant United States Attorneys Kosta S. Stojilkovic and Timothy D. Belevetz prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.

 

 

Return to Top