Source: United States Attorneys General
Headline: Federal Jury Convicts San Francisco Man Of Credit Card Fraud And Identity Theft
SAN FRANCISCO – Marcus Dieter Felder was convicted of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced Acting United States Attorney Alex G. Tse, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Spradlin, and Secret Service Special Agent in Charge David Murray. The guilty verdict was returned late yesterday following a six-day jury trial before the Honorable Maxine M. Chesney, U.S. District Judge
The jury found that Felder, 51, of San Francisco, had engaged in numerous instances of credit card fraud in San Francisco; Hawaii; Placer County, Calif.; and elsewhere in April 2013, June 2014, and October 2014. With respect to the aggravated identity charge, the jury found that Felder had illegally used personal information associated with another individual who shared his first and last names during and relation to the credit card fraud that he had committed in June 2014.
Evidence at trial showed that Felder used Visa, MasterCard, and American Express credit cards issued to other persons to engage in transactions at high-end or boutique hotels, including the Four Seasons Resort in Maui and several venues in San Francisco including the Fairmont Hotel, the Hotel Nikko, the Hilton Union Square, the Grand Hyatt, and the Hotel Metropolis. The evidence at trial also showed that, among other transactions, the defendant used credit cards issued to other persons to pay for first-class air travel from San Francisco to Maui on United Airlines and to rent an exotic car from Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Felder was arrested on October 30, 2014, at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Placer County for presenting a counterfeit credit card. He was handed over to federal authorities shortly thereafter.
A federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment on September 19, 2017, charging Felder with one count of fraudulent use of unauthorized access devices, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(2); two counts of effecting transactions with access devices issued to other persons, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(5); and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1).
Felder is currently on release on a bond.
Felder’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 30, 2018, before Judge Chesney in San Francisco. The maximum statutory penalty for the count in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(2) is 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution if appropriate. The maximum statutory penalty for each of the two counts in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(5) is 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 plus restitution, if appropriate. The statutory penalty for the count in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1) is a mandatory two-year consecutive term of imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 plus restitution, if appropriate. However, any sentence will be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine M. Lloyd-Lovett and Kyle F. Waldinger are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Lilian ArauzHaase and Jeremy Acala. The prosecution is the result of a five-year investigation by HSI and the United States Secret Service.