Man guilty in credit, debit card theft plot

that targeted Tulsa McDonald's customers

A 19-year-old native of Ghana pleaded guilty Friday to taking part in a conspiracy in which account numbers were stolen from credit and debit cards used at a Tulsa McDonald's.

Godlive Johnathan Tetty-Mensah also pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft in connection with the plot, which he agreed caused a total loss of more than $51,000 to "many" victims.

A U.S. Secret Service affidavit indicates that about 282 credit or debit card numbers were found in a search of a laptop computer that was seized when Tetty-Mensah and three other men were arrested in Ponca City in October for allegedly trying to buy merchandise with counterfeit cards.

A majority of the debit card accounts had been used at the Tulsa McDonald's at 71st Street and Yale Avenue, the document says.

Tetty-Mensah; Daniel Yaw Jefferson, 21; Stanjulfran Geovester Mensah, 21; and Bismark Baah, 20, were accused in an April 3 indictment of taking part in a plot that lasted from August 2011 until Oct. 16, 2011.

Tetty-Mensah stated in his plea agreement that last August he and Jefferson approached an individual with the initials H.J. at the McDonald's and gave him a credit card reader - known as a "skimmer."

"Daniel Jefferson and I would meet with H.J., download the skimmed numbers to a laptop computer, and then take those numbers and use a credit card reader/writer to create counterfeit credit and debit cards," Tetty-Mensah stated in his plea agreement.

The former McDonald's employee, whose full name is not disclosed in court documents, skimmed numbers for three weeks and received $600, two laptop computers and a video game system for his efforts, the document says.

Tetty-Mensah stated in his Friday plea agreement that fraudulent purchases were made in Oklahoma, Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Tennessee and Indiana as part of the conspiracy.

Baah pleaded guilty Monday to an aggravated identity theft charge. U.S. District Judge James Payne is scheduled to sentence both men July 30.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Souders said Friday that Baah faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years, while Tetty-Mensah faces between two and seven years in prison.

Charges against Jefferson and Geovester Mensah are still pending.

Original Print Headline: Man pleads guilty in theft plot