GREENFIELD — An Illinois man caught with 19 counterfeit credit cards will serve time on probation in his home state after pleading guilty to fraud.
Waltae Blount, 36, accepted an agreement from the prosecutor that called for him to plead guilty to one of the five criminal counts filed against him earlier this year.
Investigators believe the man had used the fake credit cards — which bore actual numbers stolen from accounts all over the country — to make purchases at stores in several states before he was caught, court documents state.
As a result, he’ll serve two years on probation in Illinois. If he violates his probation, he could be ordered to an Indiana Department of Correction prison to serve out whatever time remains of his sentence plus an additional year.
He and a friend, Quinton Colbert, 39, of Kokomo, were caught using a counterfeit card at the New Palestine CVS in May, according to court documents.
Colbert was also charged. His case is pending, records show. He’s expected in court again Wednesday.
Store clerks called police to report a possible fraud, but the suspects had already left the store by the time officers arrived, according to reports. The clerks relayed a description of the car the two men were driving, and police were able to catch up with the pair shortly thereafter.
An officer stopped the rented minivan after clocking it at 81 mph along County Road 500W. The speed limit in the area is 55 mph.
Blount cooperated with investigators and allowed them to search the car, according to court documents.
Inside, police found 19 Visa cards stuffed under the passenger seat. All 19 cards had different account numbers and listed either Blount or Colbert as the account holder, court documents state.
None of the cards was electronically connected to a financial institution. Nor were the numbers on the front of the card programmed into the magnetic strip on the back, according to court documents.
In an interview with police, Colbert told investigators that Blount had paid him $200 to ride with him as he drove from Kokomo to Ohio, stopping at different stores to buy liquor. Colbert told police Blount planned to resell the alcohol, court documents state.
Colbert told police that some stores “will punch the number into the system for them when the card doesn’t swipe correctly at the card reader,” court documents state.
Prior to stopping at the New Palestine CVS, Blount and Colbert had stopped at a CVS in Shelbyville, Colbert told police. Blount gave him a faked credit card with his name on it and had him use the card to buy liquor, court documents state.
Colbert said he knew what Blount was doing was wrong but agreed to help because he needed the money, court documents state.
Blount was charged in May with five criminal counts.
Blount pleaded guilty to one of the counts — a Level 5 felony count of fraud of a financial institution — in exchange for the remaining charges being dismissed.
The counts that were dismissed were: one Level 5 felony count of corrupt business influence; one Level 6 felony count of fraud; one Level 6 felony count of counterfeiting; and one Class A misdemeanor of theft.
Blount’s sentence totals three years; but he’ll only be required undergo monitoring for two years, if he completes probation properly.
Records show Blount also received a speeding ticket, which was paid.