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Probation ordered for woman in local credit card scam
McCOOK, Neb. — The second of two offenders arrested in connection with a counterfeit credit card scheme, which victimized at least eight McCook businesses last year and resulted in just shy of an estimated $7,000 in losses, was sentenced to probation time and ordered to pay restitution recently in Red Willow County District Court.
The woman, 46-year-old Christina J. Jude of Trenton, was ordered to serve 24 months probation and pay restitution pursuant to a probation order during a Jan. 8, 2018, sentencing hearing.
Jude was originally facing a Class 2A felony alleging unauthorized use of a financial transaction device which resulted in more than $5,000 in losses over a six month period. She accepted a plea agreement amending the complaint down to four lesser offenses, including a Class I misdemeanor stemming from $1057 in losses to Hershberger Music; a Class I misdemeanor stemming from $652 in losses to Game On; a Class I misdemeanor stemming from $1,444 in losses to Video Kingdom; and a Class 2 misdemeanor stemming from $476 in losses to Smokers Outlet.
Jude’s accomplice in the crime, 40-year-old Michael P. Anderson of Loveland, Colo., was previously sentenced to 360 days in county jail and ordered to serve 12 months post-release supervision, in addition to paying $6,952 in restitution to eight McCook businesses.
Anderson accepted a plea agreement admitting guilt to a Class IV felony offense for unauthorized use of a financial transaction device which resulted in less than $5,000 in losses.
The offenders purchased slightly more than $1,000 in musical equipment from Hershberger’s Music Store on a credit card that wouldn’t swipe but was approved after the clerk manually keyed the number. The clerk later said something seemed peculiar about the couple so he recorded their license plate number, which led investigators to Anderson’s 19-page criminal history after the credit card purchase was charged back to the store. Among Anderson’s background was an active probation sentence in Boulder for illegal use of credit cards, theft and identity theft.
Investigators later received similar credit card chargeback complaints and security footage from other businesses.