San Francisco

SF Man Sentenced for Credit Card Scheme Involving Lavish Trips

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Federal prosecutors said Friday a San Francisco man has been sentenced to 100 months in prison, after he was found guilty by a jury of stealing credit cards in order to pay for fancy vacations that included first-class flights and stays at luxury hotels.

Back in February 2018, a jury found 54-year-old Marcus Felder guilty of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors alleged Felder engaged in credit fraud several times in San Francisco, Placer County and Hawaii, among other places, between April 2013 and October 2014.

As part of the fraud, Felder used Visa, MasterCard and American Express credit cards that were issued to others to get rooms at hotels like the Fairmont Hotel, the Hotel Nikko, the Hilton Union Square, the Grand Hyatt and the Hotel Metropolis in San Francisco, as well as the Four Seasons Resort in Maui. He also used the cards to pay for first-class flights between San Francisco and Maui and for rental cars.

Federal agents arrested him in October 2014 at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Placer County after he used a counterfeit credit card there, according to prosecutors.

Although Felder was indicted in October 2017, he failed to appear at a sentencing hearing in April 2019, and then was charged with a new count of contempt of court. He was finally apprehended in October 2019.

In addition to 100 months in prison, Felder has also been sentenced to three years of supervised release and he's been ordered to pay $60,000 in restitution.

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