Briana Burford was caught using Bitcoin to make the purchases through “carding” sites that traffic in stolen credit card and bank account information, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
Rather than risk trial, she took a deal from the government, pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in Newark in November 2019 to wire fraud.
Federal authorities didn’t say whether the deal reached with Burford nearly two years ago involved any agreements to testify against others.
Burford, 27, must serve just about all of her sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system.
In addition to the time, U.S. District Court Judge Claire C. Cecchi sentenced Burford via videoconference on Monday to three years of supervised release. The judge also ordered her to pay $245,570 in restitution.
Honig credited special agents of U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations in Newark with the investigation leading to Monday’s sentencing, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of her Cybercrime Unit in Newark.
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