Ex-soldier sentenced for stealing credit card numbers from 32 soldiers

Ex-soldier Jailed Over Credit Theft From Troops
Sep 18, 2012
Erie Times-News
by Ed Palattella

ERIE, Pa. -- A former soldier released in 2008 after just 13 months in the Army has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for stealing the credit-card numbers of 32 fellow soldiers.

Joshua R. Raines, 23, got the numbers by hacking a computer program. He then used them to make $10,080 in online purchases from August 2009 until shortly after his indictment in December 2011, the government said.

The items Raines bought included CDs, brass knuckles, games and a fishnet halter and stockings for women he knew. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which sells merchandise to members of the armed services, issued the credit cards to those in the military.

Raines "served with them, and then he stole their IDs. He stole from his peers to buy garbage," Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Sanner said in court.

Raines intended to buy as much as $60,000 in merchandise, but many of the transactions were tagged as fraudulent and failed, Sanner said.
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