TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that a Philadelphia man pleaded
guilty today to illegally receiving personal
information of bank customers in order to
steal their identities.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, Anthony Wood a.k.a.
Anthony M. Bickerstaff, 45, of Philadelphia,
pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge
James Morley in Burlington County to second-degree
computer criminal activity and second-degree
identity theft. The charges were contained
in a June 13, 2008 state grand jury indictment.
Under
the plea agreement, the state will recommend
that Wood be sentenced to four years in state
prison and pay restitution of up to $80,000.
Wood is scheduled to be sentenced on April
24.
His
co-defendants, , 23, of Hammonton,
a former loan services representative for
Commerce Bank, now known as TD Bank, in Mt.
Laurel, and her boyfriend, William Roman,
22, of Galloway, pleaded guilty to third-degree
computer criminal activity and were sentenced
to probation. pleaded guilty on Sept.
8, and Roman pleaded guilty on Oct. 20.
Between
March 1 and Oct. 30, 2007, used her
position to access at least 240 bank documents
with customer information, including loan
information and account numbers, which she
printed out. admitted that on two
occasions, she provided the documents to Roman,
who then provided them to Wood. For his involvement,
Roman was allegedly paid $250.
As
a result, the defendants stole the identities
of at least five victims. Using the stolen
identities, Wood obtained, or helped others
obtain, merchandise or services to which they
were not entitled. As part of the investigation,
Wood was arrested by the New Jersey State
Police on Feb. 26.
The
investigation was coordinated by the New Jersey
State Police Cyber Crimes Unit. Deputy Attorney
General Mark Murtha prosecuted the case for
the Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes
Bureau – Computer Technology & Analysis
Unit.
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