4 from Michigan held in credit-card scheme

By Denise Dick

A federal agent said the cases shouldn’t raise fears among the public about their credit cards.

BOARDMAN — Police arrested four Michigan residents in a scheme that involved stolen credit information.

Chauncey E. Peteet III, 22, of Oak Park; Quintez T. Salter, 21, of Farmington Hills; Brittany L. Winton, 20, of Clinton Township; and Christopher Hollingsworth, 35, of Detroit, are all charged with possession of criminal tools, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and telecommunication fraud.

Peteet also is charged with theft, and the other three are charged with complicity to theft.

The four are in the Mahoning County jail on $19,500 bond each. They are scheduled to appear Tuesday in Mahoning County Area Court.

Sgt. Michael Hughes said the U.S. Secret Service is involved in the investigation.

Police found gift cards and a magnetic-strip-card reader/writer in a room at the Red Roof Inn.

The individuals each had several credit cards in their possession and are accused of obtaining stolen credit-card account information and using a magnetic-reader device to put the stolen information on a credit card bearing one of their names.

It then would appear when the card was used that the transaction was valid.

Last weekend, Newton Falls police arrested three New York men accused of similar crimes.

David Lee, resident agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service office in Akron, said agents are investigating to determine if the two cases are related.

But incidents of imprinting stolen credit-card numbers onto other credit cards aren’t rare.

“It’s not something that we like to see but certainly isn’t unusual,” Lee said.

He said the cases shouldn’t raise fears among the public about credit cards.

“One of the individuals told us that they were going to Pennsylvania and were going through Ohio when they got caught in Boardman,” Lee said.

Lee said it hasn’t been determined whether the federal agency will take over the investigation in the township.

“We’re proud and fortunate of the relationship we have with law-enforcement agencies in our district, and Boardman is no exception,” he said.

About 3 p.m. Thursday, police received information about suspicious activity at the hotel on Tiffany South Boulevard.

Police found a car in the hotel parking lot with Michigan registration and stopped it for a violation.

Police detected a marijuana odor coming from the car, and Peteet gave his consent to search it. Police said they found a small amount of suspected marijuana on the floor along with eight Wal-Mart gift cards, two Visa debit cards, four cell phones and two GPS units in the car.

The car also was equipped with an alarm that seemed to activate when particular radio frequencies were detected, the report said. The devices are used to detect if anyone in the vehicle is using a wire in an undercover investigation, according to the report.

Salter also had a laptop computer, and when police asked for his permission to look for any computer files relating to scanning credit-card information with a magnetic reader, he declined.

Hughes contacted Wal-Mart about the investigation and was told that a man had tried to buy more than $2,000 worth of gift cards earlier Thursday but couldn’t because his credit card was declined. After reviewing the store’s security tape, Hughes confirmed it was Hollingsworth.

Another store security tape showed Peteet buying more than $2,000 worth of gift cards. He used a card that had been issued to him, but the information came from a stolen credit card.

The actual card owner, an Austintown woman, told police that she still had the credit card but had been notified by her credit-card company of a possible fraudulent transaction at Wal-Mart for gift cards.

denise_dick@vindy.com