dme court

CRANBERRY TWP — Two additional felony charges were added Friday against four Michigan men accused of making fraudulent purchases with dozens of stolen credit cards at a Walmart in Cranberry Township.

During a preliminary hearing before District Judge Kevin Flaherty, prosecutors tacked on two first-degree felony counts under Pennsylvania’s Corrupt Organizations Act — participation in the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and conspiracy — to the existing list of charges against Eric Karvel Davon Horton, 24, Parys Kendall Warren, 24, Kevin Jaheim Morris, 23, and Anthony Jordan Williams, 20.

The four were previously charged with multiple felonies, including one count each of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, access device fraud, theft, receiving stolen property, conspiracy to deal in proceeds of unlawful activities, conspiracy to commit theft and conspiracy to receive stolen property, following a Sept. 18 incident.

Michele Beck, an asset protection operations coach for Walmart, testified she was alerted to a potential credit card scam by a team lead at the store. Through surveillance footage, she said three men — Warren, Morris and Williams — were dropped off by a Chevrolet Blazer driven by Horton.

Using the Walmart Pay system, she testified those men made 31 transactions with multiple stolen credit cards at several different registers in a span of 23 minutes.

She alleged they had purchased prepaid Mastercards using fraudulent coupons, most of them being in the range of $50 to $60. The transactions, according to the criminal complaint, totaled $2,593.56.

All of the information and footage captured, Beck said, was turned over to Cranberry Township Police and Lieutenant Matthew Irvin.

Irvin told the court he was notified the four men had been detained by Beaver County’s Center Township Police at a Walmart in Monaca. From there, the four men were placed under arrest and taken to the Butler County Prison.

The men, Irvin testified, were found to have committed similar acts in multiple Walmart stores in Michigan, Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, including at locations in Butler Township and Grove City.

Irvin said he had already contacted 18 of the individuals whose credit card information was stolen.

Some time after her testimony, Irvin was granted permission to remove Warren from the courtroom after he said the defendant was making obscene gestures at Beck.

The original criminal complaint stated officers recovered nine cellphones and dozens of prepaid cards scattered throughout a vehicle they were in, which was later taken to the Cranberry Township police station.

The four men were returned to Butler County Prison after being denied bail. Their next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 16 in the Butler County Court of Common Pleas.