East Boston Man Sentenced in Identity Theft, Credit Card Fraud Ring

Boston, MA—An East Boston man was sentenced yesterday for his role in a scheme to steal credit cards from health club locker rooms and take more than $350,000 in cash advances at horse race tracks in at least 10 states.

Acting United States Attorney Michael K. Loucks; Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division; Randy Miskanic, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Steven D. Ricciardi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service and Commissioner Edward Davis of the Boston Police Department, announced that ARTHUR RIZZO, age 53, was sentenced to 51 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release.

In January, RIZZO pled guilty to conspiring with at least four others, including JAMES DESIMONE, DENNIS SAVARESE, DONALD DESIMONE, JR. and RICHARD REGNETTA to commit identity fraud, access device fraud and wire fraud. RIZZO admitted to providing his coconspirators with fake state identification cards bearing the names from stolen credit cards with photographs of the defendants. According to the Indictment, the other defendants then traveled to horse tracks around the country where they took large cash advances on the stolen credit cards using the fake ID’s as identification. A trial has yet to be scheduled on the charges pending against the remaining defendants.

The case was investigated by the Boston Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam J. Bookbinder and Sarah E. Walters.