Former Plattsburgh Resident Sentenced to 79 Months for Online Fraud

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Jared R. Hudson, age 39, formerly of Plattsburgh, New York, was sentenced today to 79 months in prison and 3 years of post-imprisonment supervised release for fraud and identity theft.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; Vadim D. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and Plattsburgh Police Chief Kenneth R. Parkinson.

Hudson, who has also resided in Florida and Texas, pled guilty on August 2, 2017.  He admitted that he and Thomas J. Howe, age 38, of Plattsburgh, devised a scheme to defraud banks, merchants and individual consumers by purchasing information including credit card numbers, bank account numbers, expiration dates, security codes, answers to security questions, and other personal identification information, and to using that information to electronically purchase goods, and to fraudulently transfer and attempt to transfer funds electronically, between October 2009 until at least December 13, 2014.

Initially, Hudson used stolen credit card numbers to order merchandise online and had the merchandise shipped to him.  He then used other people’s personal identification information to sign up for credit cards.  He then opened investment accounts in his name, which were funded with money taken from other people’s bank accounts using stolen account numbers, routing numbers, identification, and bank security information.  Hudson admitted that his victims suffered at least $510,544.49 in actual and intended losses.

Hudson has been detained on federal charges since June 24, 2016.  Senior United States District Judge Lawrence E. Kahn ordered the 79-month sentence to be served consecutively to the 18-year prison sentence Hudson is serving in Texas for possession/promotion of child pornography. 

Federal charges remain pending against Howe, who is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Plattsburgh Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Collyer.