Sacto 9-1-1

The Sacramento Bee's Crime blog is a comprehensive report of crime news, trends and information for your community and beyond.

From Chelsea Phua:

A 28-year-old Roseville man pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of wire fraud that defrauded thousands of American Express cardholders, federal authorities said.

According to a news release by U.S. Attorney Lawrence Brown's office, Alexsandr Bernik obtained at least 11,800 American Express credit card numbers from October 2005 through November 2006 and charged each of them in amounts ranging from $9 to $15 under a fictitious business name "Lexbay Limited."

The charges were processed through interstate wires and ended up in an account held by Bernik. Bernik obtained more than $177,000 with the scheme, federal prosecutors said.

Bernik entered his plea before United States District Judge John A. Mendez and is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 19.

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Send feedback on Sacto 9-1-1 to Assistant Metro Editor Anthony Sorci at asorci@sacbee.com

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Sacto 9-1-1 Q&A

Q: What happened to the man and woman who forced a little boy they were taking care of to box with other kids, eventually killing the boy?


A: On Oct. 20, 2006, Renecha Marina Gulley, then 24, and Earl Joseph Christopher, then 26, were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison over the beating death of their 3-year-old godson, The Bee reported.

A jury convicted the pair of the murder of Christopher David Thomas, who died July 19, 2004 of severe head injuries sustained in what the prosecutor described as a week of physical and emotional abuse.

In opening remarks to the jury, Deputy District Attorney Robin Shakely said the boy was forced to box with his 5-year-old brother as "spectator sport" for Christopher and Gulley. The boxing matches and other acts of violence in the Rancho Cordova apartment were for the amusement of the godparents who were taking care of the boy for the parents, trial evidence showed.

The boy, who died of bleeding in the brain, also had several bruises on his chest, hip, knees, shins, hands and legs. He had a bruise on his buttocks in the shape of a hand, the evidence showed.


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