Six men who ran one of the largest online centers for trafficking in stolen credit and bank card numbers and identity information have pleaded guilty in federal court. The U.S. Attorney for New Jersey says the plea is the last step in pulling the plug on the notorious "Shadowcrew.com" website.
The one-stop online marketplace operated by the defendants was taken down in October 2004 by the U.S. Secret Service, closing an illicit business that trafficked in at least 1.5 million stolen credit and bank card numbers that resulted in losses in excess of $4 million.
Andrew Mantovani, 23, of Scottsdale, Ariz.; Kim Taylor, 47, of Arcadia, Calif.; Jeremy Stephens, 31, of Charlotte, N.C.; Brandon Monchamp, 22, of Scottsdale, Ariz.; Omar Dhanani, 22, of Fountain Valley, Calif.; and Jeremy Zielinski, 22, of Longwood, Fla., entered guilty pleas to the lead count of conspiracy before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini. Judge Martini scheduled sentencing for late February and early March.
The defendants admitted their roles in the online conspiracy to commit credit and bank card fraud, as well as identification document fraud. Mantovani also pleaded guilty to a second count of unlawful transfer of identification to facilitate criminal conduct. Mantovani admitted his role in illegally obtaining approximately 18 million e-mail accounts with associated personal identifying information.
Both the conspiracy and unlawful transfer counts carry maximum prison sentences of five years and a maximum fine of $250,000. On Wednesday, Wesley Lanning, 22, of Grove City, Ohio, also pleaded guilty before Judge Martini to the conspiracy count, as did Rogerio Rodrigues 22, of Chicago, on Sept. 22.
"These individuals proved in a big way that the Internet can be a dangerous place where consumers can be victimized without warning," said U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie.
"But as this case also shows, criminals operating in the virtual world of the Internet are not ultimately anonymous. Their crimes can be traced and documented, and they can be tracked down, arrested, prosecuted and sent to prison."
The Shadowcrew organization and its associated website, www.Shadowcrew.com, was a hub of online identity theft activity, facilitating online trafficking in stolen identity information and documents, as well as stolen credit and debit card numbers. A year-long investigation by the Secret Service led to the arrests of 21 individuals in the United States in October 2004. To date, 12 have pleaded guilty. Additionally, several individuals were arrested in foreign countries.
The indictment charged that the administrators, moderators, vendors and others involved with Shadowcrew conspired to provide stolen credit and bank card numbers and identity documents through the Shadowcrew marketplace. The account numbers and other items were sold by approved vendors who had been granted permission to sell by administrators and moderators of the Shadowcrew site after completing a review process.
