Ex-sailor from Lemoore air station arrested in credit card, identity theft scam

Former Lemoore Naval Air Station sailor Jarrod M. Langford, 25, was arrested Friday in Florida on suspicion of credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Fresno said.

Langford was an aviation electrician’s mate when he allegedly committed the crimes, the government said.

From June 2011 until August 2015, he conspired to illegally acquire and use credit card numbers over the internet to buy and resell voucher codes redeemable for wrist watches, jewelry, computer software and electronic devices, authorities said.

In September 2012, Langford had more than 2,500 credit card account numbers, names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses, authorities said. He allegedly purchased $340,000 of consumer products and unauthorized voucher codes.

To hide his location, he set up a virtual private network giving the appearance that he was outside California, authorities said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida are investigating the case.

If convicted, Langford faces five years in prison for conspiracy, 10 years each on seven counts of fraudulent use of unauthorized credit cards, two years each on two counts of aggravated identity theft, and a $250,000 fine.

This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Ex-sailor from Lemoore air station arrested in credit card, identity theft scam."