John Carleton Johnson, Jr., a 32-year-old from Canal Winchester, Ohio, faced the music this week as he pleaded guilty to possessing magnetic stripe credit card encoding devices. The court heard that on April 28, 2024, Johnson was nabbed in Rankin County after a traffic stop revealed his stash of approximately 322 gift cards and seventeen reencoded instruments loaded with stolen bank card data.
The investigation took an ominous turn when CCTV footage linked Johnson to purchasing gift cards at various Jackson metropolitan retail stores using cloned instruments. The defendant, along with his co-defendant, were caught red-handed in the act, sparking a massive investigation by the U.S. Secret Service and local law enforcement.
Johnson’s guilty plea comes with a heavy price tag; he now faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison. Sentencing is set for October 23, 2025, where a federal district court judge will determine his fate after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Lemon of the Southern District of Mississippi, along with U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Davis and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, were at the forefront of this announcement. The Cyber Fraud Task Force, consisting of the United States Secret Service, Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Mississippi Highway Patrol, and Flowood Police Department, played a critical role in bringing Johnson to justice.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly T. Purdie is handling the prosecution for this case, which underscores the government’s commitment to cracking down on cyber fraud and financial crimes.
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Key Facts
- State: Mississippi
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Cybercrime|White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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