A Portage member of a rap group is admitting he took part in a debit card fraud conspiracy that took in about $234,000 in illegal withdrawals.
Stephen Garner, 23, faces up to 30 years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to a plea deal filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond.
Garner and other members of the rap crew Rack Boyz were arrested in October on charges of taking part in what’s called a cracking cards scheme. A probable cause affidavit claimed the men would advertise on their social media pages offering money in exchange for people’s debit card information, including their PINs.
They men would then use the debit cards to deposit fraudulent checks, the affidavit claimed. Checks will usually take several days to process, but banks often credit the funds to a person’s account immediately, meaning the member of Rack Boyz could withdraw money from the fraudulent checks before the banks discovered they were no good.
The government claims that the defendants also took the money by buying money orders, usually at the Wal-Mart in Valparaiso and other locations in Hammond, East Chicago, Hobart and the Chicago area.
Two people admitted to the government that they sold the Rack Boyz their debit card information, one for $500 and the other for $1,000.
Garner admits in his plea agreement that the conspiracy resulted in $234,000 of withdrawals through the scheme.
As part of the plea agreement, federal attorneys will recommend the minimum of whatever range federal sentencing guidelines call for and drop four other charges against him. In exchange, Garner agrees to cooperate fully with federal attorneys. A change of plea hearing had not been set as of Tuesday afternoon.
One of Garner’s co-defendants, Cortez Stevens, lives in Griffith, and Stevens and co-defendant Kevin Ford used to live together in Merrillville, according to government filings.
Contact Teresa Auch Schultz at [email protected]