Missouri Man Sentenced to Fed Prison in Identity-Theft Case

July 13, 2011

A St. Louis man has been ordered to serve four years and nine months in federal prison for an identity-theft operation authorities say was helped by a worker at a southwestern Illinois restaurant.

Thirty-one-year-old Miltiano Johnson also was ordered to repay the 19 victims of his theft an unspecified amount.

Johnson pleaded guilty last month in East St. Louis to charges of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Federal prosecutors say that early last year, Johnson met an Alton restaurant hostess online who found a waitress willing to help Johnson use an electronic skimmer to collect credit card information from the eatery’s customers.

Authorities say Johnson and others used the victims’ credit-card numbers at various stores in Missouri and Illinois.

It’s not clear if the restaurant workers were charged.