Two Florida Men Sentenced for Credit Card Fraud

Jason Albert Leslie, Jr. 26, of Miami, Florida, and Tafari Shaile Lawrence, 29, also of Miami, Florida, were sentenced in federal court in Casper to prison terms for their roles in a credit card fraud conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Mark A. Klaassen. Mr. Lawrence was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl on March 21, 2018, to serve 18 months in prison, followed by 2 years supervised release. Judge Skavdahl sentenced Mr. Leslie to serve 30 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release. Both men were ordered to pay $222,756.08 in restitution to Citibank.

Leslie and Lawrence had previously pled guilty to conspiracy for their participation in a scheme to use fraudulently obtained Citibank credit cards to purchase prepaid debit cards at Walmart stores in several states. The Citibank cards were fraudulently obtained by unknown persons using made-up and stolen identity information. Leslie and Lawrence were then given the unauthorized credit cards and traveled to Walmart stores to purchase prepaid debit cards in late June and July 2016. The defendants then wired money to other members of the conspiracy. The defendants were discovered and arrested during a traffic stop by Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers south of Laramie on July 30, 2016.

This case was investigated by special agents of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Heimann of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming.