SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A 22-year-old Latvian woman pleaded guilty to buying $133,000 worth of merchandise with stolen credit card numbers.
Oksana Misakina pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to conspiring to commit credit card fraud. She faces up to 7' years in prison when she is sentenced Sept. 7. She also faces deportation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Broton said Misakina was part of a nationwide scam based in Syracuse. The stolen merchandise - including laptops, digital cameras, flat screen computer monitor and high-end LCD televisions - was shipped to Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Lithuania, he said.
Misakina admitted setting up private mail drops in the Syracuse area, where the illegally obtained merchandise was sent to fictitious people. Misakina then shipped the merchandise overseas. Broton said Misakina ran a similar operation with a recruit in Panama City, Fla.
The items were purchased online with the stolen credit card numbers. Broton said the group shipped about 100 packages between July and September.
Misakina was only involved in receiving and shipping the stolen items, said defense attorney Kenneth Moynihan. She was not involved in the theft of the credit card numbers, he said.
Federal authorities also have charged Misakina's husband, Ihor Kozenyatko, and Mykola Bokonchak of Panama City, Fla., in connection with the scheme. Broton said the investigation is continuing.
