He used a bogus debit card to scam Apple stores nationwide. Now, he’s headed to prison

A federal court sentenced a Sacramento man to more than three years in prison Tuesday and ordered him to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution for a debit card fraud scheme targeting Apple stores across the U.S.

Marcus Israel Butler, 33, made fraudulent purchases at Apple stores using a revoked debit card in cities throughout California and the rest of the country, including the East Coast, Midwest and Alaska, with losses totaling approximately $353,000, according to a Department of Justice news release.

Court documents say Butler would tell Apple store employees that there was a problem with his debit card, and then he would invite them to call what he told them was his bank, the release said. When Apple employees made the call, a partner who was in on the scheme would speak with them and provide a false code that allowed transactions to be completed with Butler’s revoked debit card.

After attempting to make additional fraudulent purchases at Apple stores in Colorado, Butler was finally arrested.

Butler was sentenced to 41 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $353,000 in restitution.

This story was originally published July 17, 2018 at 2:31 PM.