An Ohio man, John Carleton Johnson, Jr., pleaded guilty on June 30, 2025, to illegally possessing magnetic stripe credit card encoding devices. The arrest occurred in Rankin County during a traffic stop on April 28, 2024. Johnson was found with approximately 322 gift cards, seventeen reencoded instruments containing stolen bank card data, and two magstripe encoding devices.
Court documents revealed that Johnson and his co-defendant were captured on CCTV footage using cloned instruments to purchase gift cards at various retail stores throughout the Jackson metropolitan area.
Johnson admitted to one count of possession or trafficking of device-making equipment with intent to defraud. He is set for sentencing on October 23, 2025, facing a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Lemon of the Southern District of Mississippi, along with U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Davis and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch.
The case is being investigated by the United States Secret Service, Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation through their Cyber Fraud Task Force partnership. They received assistance from the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Flowood Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly T. Purdie is prosecuting this case.
