In a decidedly "not for everyone" type of crime, a man that crawled across sticky movie theater floors, using his sticky fingers to snatch credit cards from women's purses for cash advances, purchases and identify theft, has been convicted, as reported by the Hartford Courant.
On October 22 A.J., 49, was found guilty of fraud and identity theft along with several accomplices. The scheme involved using the stolen credit cards to withdraw cash from gambling casinos in Connecticut. According to authorities, the amount of money withdrawn and goods purchased totaled into tens of thousands of dollars.
One accomplice testified that A.J. collected $50,000 to $70,000 on a "good" weekend's haul and $30,000 to $40,000 during a bad one.
In an agreement with authorities, A.J.'s accomplice said that A.J. preferred to work with female thieves as they fit in at movies populated by other female patrons. Then the female accomplice watched the audience to take note of where purses were placed.
According to an FBI affidavit, "Once the movie started, (A.J.) crawled on the floor, removed credit cards from the stored purses, and returned the wallet to the purses. (A.J.) crawled in this manner around the theater until he was done…"
The scheme then involved transferring the stolen identification into a counterfeit driver's license – adding a photograph of the female accomplice instead of the victim.
One such theft, that occurred on December 27, 2008 and warranted three stolen cards from a woman's purse at Greenwich's Bow-Tie Cinema, was used for nearly $54,000 in charges. Another $40,000 use was thwarted by several retailers and the Foxwoods Casino.
According to the FBI, a Greenwich police detective was able to connect the Greenwich theater complaint with similar crimes in New England and the Northeast.
The thefts from Bow-Tie were soon linked to those of Colchester's Gallery Cinemas and Fairfield's Fairfield Cinemas.
A stolen credit card from the Colchester Cinema on August 15, 2010, was used – while the victim was still watching the movie. First it was used at a gas station, then for $4,000 in cash advances and finally to purchase an item for $863 from a Coach store inside the Mohegan Sun casino.
Beginning in 2007 A.J. started crawling over theater floors once the lights dimmed in search of easily-accessible handbags. Prior to 2007 A.J. was incarcerated over the theft of a diamond.
A.J. was convicted for a total of seven counts of unauthorized use of an access device – a credit or debit card – and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
A.J. faces a maximum 10 years in prison for each access device conviction and another two years in prison for the identity theft charges. His sentencing is set for January 14, 2013.
Contact a criminal defense attorney if you are facing one or more criminal charges. Whatever your case may entail, an experienced criminal attorney would provide you with the best representation. Start to work on your defense right away!
