Ed Yarbrough
United States Attorney
Byron M. Jones
Assistant U.S. Attorney
DAVID U. HALTINNER PLEADS GUILTY
FOR SELLING APPROXIMATELY 637,000STOLEN CREDIT CARD NUMBERS
Nashville, TN - October 11, 2007 - Ed Yarbrough, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee and Sarah Beth Pulliam, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service Nashville Field Office, announced today that David U. Haltinner, 25, of Menasha, Wisconsin pled guilty in federal court to a criminal information charging him with two counts of trafficking in stolen credit card numbers and one count of aggravated identity theft.
According to testimony at the guilty plea hearing, Mr. Haltinner, used an assumed online identity to sell approximately 637,000 stolen credit card numbers through an Internet-based website that is frequented by individuals engaged in credit card fraud. Fortunately, Mr. Haltinner’s two biggest customers turned out to be one undercover agent of the United States Secret Service in Nashville.
Mr. Haltinner twice sold the same database of approximately 637,000 stolen credit card numbers to the undercover agent who was using two different online identities. In one of the transactions, Mr. Haltinner agreed to trade the database of stolen credit card numbers for a new MacBook Pro computer. Mr. Haltinner instructed the undercover agent to send the MacBook Pro computer to a false name at the address of Mr. Haltinner’s employer in Neenah, Wisconsin. Agents of the Secret Service from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Field Office placed the address of Mr. Haltinner’s employer under surveillance when the computer was delivered and observed Mr. Haltinner carry the package containing the computer to his car in the parking garage.
Mr. Haltinner later was arrested after searches of his home, his office, and his computers uncovered evidence that he was the person who sold the stolen credit card numbers to the undercover agent in Nashville. Mr. Haltinner had access to this credit card information by virtue of his responsibilities as an Information Security Analyst for his employer, and in fact had stolen all of the credit card information from his employer.
Mr. Haltinner began cooperating with law enforcement authorities shortly after his arrest in order to limit the damage done by his criminal actions. It appears that Mr. Haltinner sold approximately 318 stolen credit card numbers to individuals other than the undercover agent. The investigation is continuing.
Mr. Haltinner is scheduled to be sentenced on January 14, 2008.
This case was investigated by agents from the United States Secret Service’s Nashville and Milwaukee Field Offices, with assistance from the Milwaukee Police Department. Asst. United States Attorney Byron Jones represented the United States.