Latricia Newell, a woman from Harbor City, California, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for a brazen fraud spree across the St. Louis area, using counterfeit credit cards to steal thousands in gift cards and merchandise. The 48-month sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry, puts an end to a years-long crime wave that stretched from Missouri to Texas.
The trouble began on January 31, 2016, when police in Chesterfield, Missouri, responded to a store alert: a credit card embossed with Newell’s name had been used to buy gift cards, but the account number on file belonged to someone else. When officers approached her vehicle, 20 fake cards spilled from her purse. A search of the car revealed 51 fraudulently purchased gift cards and 64 counterfeit credit/debit cards—each with magnetic strips encoded with stolen account numbers from over 60 victims.
According to court documents, Newell admitted she traveled from California to the St. Louis metropolitan area with the cards in her possession. Investigators quickly uncovered a wider pattern: she had used re-encoded cards at stores in St. John, Brentwood, Clayton, and Hazelwood, systematically converting stolen financial data into spendable gift cards and high-demand goods.
But Missouri wasn’t her only target. The U.S. Secret Service uncovered a prior incident on February 21, 2014, when airport screeners in Austin, Texas, found more than 323 gift cards and 39 re-encoded credit cards in luggage set to fly from Austin to Los Angeles. Of those 39 cards, 38 were embossed with Newell’s name. She was listed on the flight manifest—linking her directly to the stash.
Newell pleaded guilty in June to one felony count of possession of 15 or more counterfeit credit cards, two felony counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of use of unauthorized access devices. The charges carry mandatory minimums, helping drive the stiff 48-month sentence despite no prior federal convictions.
The case was jointly investigated by police departments in Chesterfield, St. John, Brentwood, Clayton, and Hazelwood, along with the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry prosecuted the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, underscoring the federal reach of what started as a local retail fraud alert. Newell now begins her time behind bars, a warning to others who think they can game the system across state lines.
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Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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