Crime & Safety

Germantown Newspaper Delivery Man Pleads Guilty to Credit Card Fraud

Prosecutors: The man used credit cards stolen from mailboxes on his route

A Germantown newspaper deliveryman accused of using credit cards he stole from mailboxes along his delivery route pleaded guilty to credit card theft and identity theft, the U.S. State’s Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

Andre Tyler, 42, worked for a delivery contractor for The Washington Examiner and delivered to addresses in the Damascus/Laytonsville area of Montgomery County, according to court documents. 

Prosecutors alleged that from December 2010 to his arrest on May 19, 2011, Tyler took mail from the boxes along his route — keeping the credit cards and discarding the rest of the mail.

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 He then activated and used the cards until they stopped working, according to court records, raking up thousands of dollars in chargers for auto parts and car-related services for his Mercedes-Benz station wagon, according to court records.

Tyler faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for the unauthorized use of access devices and a mandatory two years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, for aggravated identity theft, the State’s Attorney’s office said in a release.

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Chief U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for 2 p.m. Jan. 30, 2012.


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