U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Thursday sentenced a man from St. Louis County, Missouri who committed a $1.6 million credit card fraud scheme to 14 years and seven months in prison.
Michael W. Burrus, 50, was also ordered to repay the money.
Burrus and others obtained stolen information for business customers of Lowe’s, including names, telephone numbers, addresses, and credit card account numbers. Burrus used the information to gain access to the credit card accounts of the businesses, applied for additional credit cards, and changed the mailing address on the accounts. Burrus then made purchases with the credit cards, all without the knowledge and consent of the 40 business victims. Burrus and others caused a total loss of more than $1.6 million.
Burrus pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and two counts of bank fraud.
It was the second time that Burrus committed the same type of fraud. Burrus is still paying off a total of $335,152 in restitution ordered in a 2017 fraud case involving two other men. Burrus pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and three counts of bank fraud and was sentenced in 2018 to two years in prison. He was on supervised release at the time of his new crime.
“The United States Secret Service will continue to work with our private sector partners to aggressively target individuals and groups who attempt to take advantage of retail business financial systems,” said Special Agent in Charge Travis Gibson of the U.S. Secret Service St. Louis Field Office. “I commend the exceptional work of our partners with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and emphasize our agency’s ongoing commitment to combatting fraud at every level.”
“The defendant in this case operated a bank fraud conspiracy for 17 months, bilking 40 businesses out of $1.6 million,” said Inspector in Charge Ruth Mendonca who heads the Chicago Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service, which includes the St. Louis Field Office. “Today’s sentencing sends a message that the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and its law enforcement partners will aggressively investigate such financial crimes in pursuit of justice for victims.”
The U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gwen Carroll, Kyle Bateman and Edward Dowd III prosecuted the case.
