Five people have pleaded guilty in a case involving an alleged credit card theft ring at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
John Horn, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, announced the last of the five guilty pleas Wednesday.
The five people were indicted earlier this year for allegedly running a theft ring that stole credit cards from mail loaded onto planes at the Atlanta airport from December 2015 until April 2017.
The defendants allegedly used the credit cards to get cash advances in metro Atlanta and buy “high dollar electronics,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, which says the scheme caused more than $1.7 million fraud-related losses.
“Americans depend on the United States mail system to carry some of their most vital and sensitive correspondence, like the new credit cards in this case,” Horn said in a written statement. “By exploiting the airport’s baggage loading processes, these defendants were able to plunder mail bags and steal new credit cards on their way to customers across the country.”
The U.S Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Secret Service are investigating the case.
Treveyon Herring, 22, of Forest Park, pleaded guilty Sept. 28 to wire fraud conspiracy. He agreed to pay more than $1.3 million in restitution.
Quentin Picket, 25, or Jonesboro, pleaded guilty last month to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft and agreed to pay more than $1.75 million in restitution.
Cornelius Henderson, 23, of Riverdale, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft and agreed to more than $429,000 in restitution.
LaSuhn Turner, 25, of Stockbridge, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and agreed to more than $70,000 in restitution.
And Brandon Foster, 24, of Stockbridge, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and agreed to nearly $15,000 in restitution.
They have hearing dates scheduled in the next several months.
The defendants stole credit cards from baggage loading areas, which Henderson had access to through his job, and from a private mail sorting facility, where Herring worked, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Horn’s office says Foster, a bank teller, and Turner got cash from the stolen credit cards.
Pickett "was involved in almost every aspect of the scheme alleged in the indictment," according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
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