A Sacramento man who stole hundreds of credit card numbers and drivers licenses faces up to more than 12 years in prison after being convicted in federal court.
Michael McCormick, 29, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. to aggravated identity theft and credit card fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 12, a news release from U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott's office states.
McCormick faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison for the credit card offense and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for the identity theft charge, which must be served consecutively with the sentence imposed for the credit card thefts, the release states.
McCormick, who admitted stealing more than 1,500 credit card numbers and driver's licenses, also will be ordered to pay restitution.
McCormick was arrested in a hotel room where he was running the scam.
Authorities seized his computer, which contained thousands of credit card numbers, driver's licenses and other personal identification numbers, including names, addresses and phone numbers, the release states.
Authorities also found about 72 driver's licenses, 17 credit and gift cards and a black plastic file box containing files, receipts and evidence of fraudulent activity, the release states.
McCormick also possessed five California driver's licenses with his photo but different names and personal information.
Posted on the hotel room walls were worksheets listing stolen financial and identification information, as well as information about how to commit credit card fraud, the release states.
McCormick used the information to obtain credit cards to make more than $1,000 in fraudulent purchases, including renting hotel rooms and making online purchases, the release states.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and Sacramento police. The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office also cooperated in prosecuting the case.
Call The Bee's Niesha Lofing, (916) 321-1270.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.