Credit-card theft cases taken to grand jury

Investigators said one of the suspects got the numbers while working for American Express.

CANFIELD — Cases against five people arrested in a credit-card and identity-theft ring in Canfield have been bound over to a Mahoning County grand jury.

Danielle Lancia, 29, and Lamar Phenizy, 22, both of Neff Drive; Christine Alkire, 49, of Callahan Road; Teddy Szalla, 22, of Pittsburgh; and Melissa Zingarelli, 36, whose last known address is in Florida, had been scheduled to appear Friday in front of Judge Scott Hunter of Mahoning County Area Court in Canfield. Prosecutor Nick Modarelli said the cases have been removed from the court and now rest with a grand jury.

“We took them directly to the grand jury,” he said. “All the Canfield cases were dismissed.”

Modarelli said sending the cases to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court will move along the speedy-trial process.

All five are scheduled for arraignment in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in Youngstown on Aug. 25.

The five people were arrested July 22 and charged with various counts of identity theft in a fraud scheme that Canfield police said had been going on in the area since February.

Police said they used two search warrants at suspects’ homes, after an investigation that began in May, and recovered evidence of several hundred stolen American Express credit-card numbers.

“Investigators suspect that one of the suspects obtained the credit-card information while previously working for American Express,” police Chief Chuck Colucci said last month.

According to police, the suspects called various businesses and made purchases using the stolen card numbers. Items purchased included skydiving lessons, tattoos, guitars, gift cards, theme-park tickets and meals at restaurants and fast-food establishments.

“They didn’t even go out and buy expensive things like jewelry,” Modarelli said. “It was all just normal, everyday stuff. Most of it was food.”