Former U.S. Navy Sailor from Lemoore Arrested for Credit Card Fraud

FRESNO, Calif. — Jarrod M. Langford, 25, of Orlando, Florida, was arrested today in Florida after a federal grand jury in Fresno returned an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft, United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Langford was assigned as an aviation electrician’s mate with the United States Navy in Lemoore, California. From about June 2011 until August 2015, he conspired with others to fraudulently acquire and use credit card account numbers to purchase and resell over the internet voucher codes redeemable for consumer items such as wrist watches, jewelry, computer software applications and electronic devices. Langford used various methods to fraudulently acquire other peoples’ credit card information, including purchasing the information over the internet.

In September 2012, Langford fraudulently possessed more than 2,500 records of credit card account numbers and the associated account holders’ personal identifying information, such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses.

To hide his actual location and conceal his involvement in his fraudulent activities, Langford installed an application on his computers that would establish a virtual private network (VPN) in furtherance of conducting anonymous encrypted internet sessions and giving the appearance that he was located outside of California.

Throughout the course of the scheme, Langford fraudulently purchased approximately $340,000 of consumer products and unauthorized voucher codes redeemable for such items.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher D. Baker is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Langford faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge, 10 years in prison for each of the seven counts of fraudulent use and possession of unauthorized credit cards, an additional two years in prison for each of two counts of aggravated identity theft, and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.