Man denies ID theft to get fake credit cards

A Springfield man convicted of counterfeiting when he was a teenager is charged with opening three fraudulent credit card accounts.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140918/NEWS02/709189925

Published September 18, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Man denies ID theft to get fake credit cards By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Springfield man convicted of counterfeiting when he was a teenager is charged with opening three fraudulent credit card accounts. Zachary McNeill, 22, of Springfield pleaded innocent to three felony counts of identity theft and to a misdemeanor count of falsifying a vehicle registration application. He was released from White River Junction criminal court on conditions. Vermont State Police Trooper Ryan Wood said the victim, a close relative of McNeill, contacted police after a credit reporting service notified her that her credit score had just dropped 100 points. The woman also told police she’d noticed McNeill and his girlfriend, both of whom were unemployed, had a Sony PlayStation and other electronic goods delivered to their residence and she “was unsure where he was getting money to make these purchases.” In all, Wood said, the three credit cards were used dozens of times to charge more than $2,000, including a payment to the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles for a new registration, tax, and title on a vehicle. Wood said DMV records showed the victim had purportedly signed a co-signed with McNeill on a vehicle. But the woman told police she had specifically refused when McNeill asked her to do so, and she said the signature was forged. McNeill faces up to 11 years in prison if convicted. His criminal record includes convictions for burglary, petty larceny, violating probation and selling cocaine. McNeill was also convicted in 2009 of a felony charge of counterfeiting and received a three-year deferred sentence. In that case the Secret Service was called in to investigate after McNeill tried to pass a fake $20 bill at Williams Country Store in Cavendish. Court records show that the store clerk became suspicious after seeing the front and back sides of the bill were glued together and the edges were starting to peel apart. The fake currency had been printed on copier paper using a home computer.