Virginia woman found guilty in credit card counterfeiting

An Alexandria, Va., woman was found guilty Wednesday at the Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. U.S. Courthouse in Cape Girardeau for her role in a credit card skimming operation.

According to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, Lisa D. Paige, 43, was convicted of one felony count of using a counterfeit credit card device and one felony count of possession of 15 or more counterfeit access devices.

The release said the case against Paige and her two accomplices began in November when a resident of Battle Creek, Mich., contacted the Perryville, Mo., Police Department about charges placed on his credit card at the Barnes Mart convenience store in Perryville. The charges had been made the same day without the cardholder's consent, and patrolman David Craig was able to retrieve video from Barnes Mart that showed two suspects in a maroon Jeep who purchased gas and other items using the cardholder's credit-card number.

Craig located the Jeep in the parking lot of the Perryville Comfort Inn and made contact with the suspects in a motel room. Craig was given permission by Paige to search her Jeep, and 25 counterfeit credit cards were discovered. The motel room was later searched pursuant to a search warrant and officers located 112 counterfeit credit cards along with various counterfeiting devices, the release said.

Paige's accomplices, Mamadou A. Sall and Faisal D. Elmi, have pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced in September. The sentencing date for Paige has not been determined. Assistant U.S. attorney H. Morley Swingle handled the prosecution for the government, the release said.

Pertinent address:

599 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.