Edward M. Yarbrough
United States Attorney
Byron M. Jones
Assistant U.S. Attorney
DAVID U. HALTINNER SENTENCED TO 50 MONTHS OF IMPRISONMENT
FOR SELLING APPROXIMATELY 637,000 STOLEN CREDIT CARD NUMBERS
Nashville, TN - February 26, 2008 - Ed Yarbrough, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee and Sarah Beth Pulliam, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service Nashville Field Office, announced today that David U. Haltinner, 25, of Menasha, Wisconsin was sentenced yesterday to serve 50 months of imprisonment for aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.
Mr. Haltinner was arrested last May and pled guilty in October after he used an assumed online identity to sell approximately 637,000 stolen credit card numbers through a website frequented by individuals engaged in credit card fraud. Fortunately, Mr. Haltinner’s two biggest customers turned out to be one undercover agent of the United States Secret Service in Nashville.
Mr. Haltinner twice sold the same database of approximately 637,000 stolen credit card numbers with related names and addresses to the undercover agent, who was using two different online identities. In one of the transactions, Mr. Haltinner instructed the undercover agent to send a package to a false name at the address of Mr. Haltinner’s employer in Neenah, Wisconsin. Agents of the Secret Service from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Field Office placed the address of Mr. Haltinner’s employer under surveillance when the package from the undercover agent was delivered and observed Mr. Haltinner carry the package to his car.
Mr. Haltinner later was arrested after searches of his home, his office, and his computers uncovered evidence confirming that he was the person who sold the stolen credit card numbers to the undercover agent in Nashville. Mr. Haltinner had access to this credit card information by virtue of his responsibilities as an Information Security Analyst for his employer, and in fact had stolen all of the credit card information from his employer.
Mr. Haltinner began cooperating with law enforcement authorities shortly after his arrest in order to limit the damage done by his criminal actions. It appears that Mr. Haltinner sold approximately 318 stolen credit card numbers to individuals other than the undercover agent.
“The anonymity of the Internet is very appealing to people engaged in fraud and other illegal activities,” United States Attorney Ed Yarbrough said. “There is a well-known cartoon that was published in the New Yorker magazine in 1993. It depicts two dogs sitting at the keyboard of a computer while one dog explains to the other that, ‘On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.’ Apparently, criminals think that on the Internet, law enforcement will not know who they are. They are mistaken. While law enforcement respects the privacy of lawful Internet communications, the Internet is not a safe haven for criminal activity. Criminals who think they can hide their illegal activities behind the anonymity of the Internet should get the message from this case that law enforcement will track them down and arrest them.”
Mr. Haltinner also was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $752,634 to cover the expenses that his former employer incurred to notify the individuals whose information was stolen, to provide credit monitoring services to individuals who requested those services, and to cover other expenses incurred as a result of Mr. Haltinner’s criminal conduct. Mr. Haltinner also was ordered to serve a three-year period of supervised release following his imprisonment.
This case was investigated by agents from the United States Secret Service’s Nashville and Milwaukee Field Offices, with assistance from the Milwaukee Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Byron Jones represented the United States.