NORFOLK--The leader of a so-called skimming ring that stole the account numbers of sailors and civilians at Naval Station Norfolk has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Prosecutors say the 25-year-old defendant, Tiquan Savary, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Norfolk on conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges.
The Norfolk man and five co-defendants were indicted last July after Savary recruited a worker at a restaurant on the Navy base to use a "skimmer" to electronically record the account numbers of credit or debit cards. The worker was paid $10 a swipe.
The government said nearly 200 victims had their accounts compromised. The information was later used by Savary and his co-defendants to go on shopping excursions for $163,000 in merchandise.
AP-WF-02-03-12 2223GMT
