April 3, 2015

Broward Resident Pleads Guilty to Stealing Personally Identifiable Information of Magazine Subscription Customers

A Broward resident pled guilty for her participation in an identity theft fraud scheme involving the personally identifiable information (PII) of magazine subscription customers.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Eartha Ann Worthy, 29, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at a residence and found the PII belonging to 36 individuals, including their names, addresses, credit card information, dates of birth or social security numbers, on order sheets (taken from a direct call telemarketing center) related to magazine subscriptions. The owner of the residence explained that Worthy was employed as a supervisor with a company that sells magazine subscriptions and that Worthy was the source of the PII.

Worthy admitted to providing information to the residence’s owner and stated that she knew that the information she was providing was being used for fraudulent purposes. Worthy stated that the residence’s owner used the stolen credit card information to pay bills and make small purchases. Worthy also provided PII to another individual, who was involved in a tax refund fraud scheme.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 11, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. At sentencing, Worthy faces a maximum of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge, and a mandatory term of two years in prison, consecutive to any other term in prison, for the aggravated identity theft charge.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia R. Wood.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.