A gang leader who orchestrated the production of counterfeit credit cards and then used them to purchase over $1 million worth of iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks from Apple Stores throughout the United States has been sentenced to up to nine years in prison.
29-year-old Shaheed Bilal pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the second degree in a court in Manhattan, New York, and will spend between four and a half and nine years in prison. Had he have been convicted at a trial, he would have been handed 15 years.
Along with members of his family — who helped recruit shoppers who were willing to use the counterfeit cards — Bilal managed to purchase over $1 million worth of Apple goods over two and a half years. These devices were then sold on to stolen goods dealers in Brooklyn, New York.
Bilal’s brothers, Ali and Rahim, were sentenced to one to three years and two to six years respectively. But the trio didn’t make up the whole gang; over 16 people were charged in total.
Source: Chicago Tribune
Via: Macworld
Image: Blakespot on Flickr
