Two men from New York City were charged with multiple crimes on March 4 following a traffic stop in Greene County, during which more than 70 credit cards, an HP laptop computer with a charger, a Canon portable printer, and two bundles of blank printable check paper were discovered.
Jose Angel Burgos, 22, of 430 West 125th Street, Apt. 13C, New York, N.Y., has been charged with financial transaction card theft, possession of tools for the commission of a crime, and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
Kasheem Williams, 34, of 430 West 125th Street, Apt. 13F, faces the same charges and was given a citation for following too closely.
According to reports, Sgt. Leo Sierra pulled over a Chevy Suburban traveling westbound on I-20 for following too closely near milepost 130 and detected a distinct odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle as he approached.
The driver identified himself as Kasheem William and told Sierra he and his brother, Jose Burgos, were traveling to visit his daughter for her birthday and planned to spend a few days near Atlanta as part of their trip before returning home to New York.
According to Sierra’s report, a query of the vehicle’s registration revealed the Suburban had been in the state of Florida for the previous week.
Due to the odor of marijuana, a probable cause search was executed, which revealed multiple packages of marijuana inside the SUV. Sierra then found multiple credit cards bearing different names, along with a digital scale.
“A search of the rear passenger seat area revealed backpacks containing additional credit cards bearing different names, as well as several credit cards still attached to promotional mailers,” the report said. “In total, over 70 credit cards bearing different names were recovered from the vehicle. Inside one of the bags, I located an HP laptop computer with a charger, a Canon portable printer, and two bundles of blank printable check paper.”
In addition, a Ziploc bag was found containing more than 1 oz. of marijuana.
Sierra said, based on his training and experience in criminal interdiction and financial crime investigations, the combination of multiple credit cards bearing different names, credit cards still attached to promotional mailers, a laptop computer, a portable printer, and blank printable check paper is commonly associated with financial fraud and identity theft operations.
“Individuals involved in these crimes often use laptops and portable printers to create fraudulent checks, print documents, or produce counterfeit financial instruments using stolen personal and banking information.”
Williams and Burgos were placed under arrest and transported to the Greene County Jail.
A criminal history inquiry of Williams revealed prior convictions in the State of New York for credit card theft and armed robbery.
Six cell phones were collected along with all other recovered evidence pending further processing.