Guerilla Black pleads guilty to credit card fraud scheme

Rapper Guerilla Black is facing a lengthy stint behind bars after pleading guilty to multiple counts of credit card fraud. The hip-hop star, real name Charles Tony Williamson, was arrested in January (13) amid accusations of federal conspiracy, unauthorised access to a protected computer to facilitate fraud, access device fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges relating to his involvement in a major scam.
Prosecutors claim the Compton, California native purchased over 27,000 stolen credit card numbers from computer hackers who had targetted restaurants and supply stores in the Seattle, Washington area. The illegal operations are alleged to have netted him $150,000 (£96,774) in swiped funds.
At the time of his arrest earlier this year (13), Williamson had been on pre-trial release for a different fraud scheme he was busted for last summer (12).
Williamson, 33, pleaded guilty to all counts during a court hearing on Tuesday (09Jul13) and will be sentenced on 10 October (13).
The bank fraud charge carries a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $1 million (£645,161) fine. He also faces up to 15 years behind bars for device fraud and another five years each for conspiracy and computer fraud.
Two other suspects have already been sentenced for their involvement – hacker David Schrooten was handed a 12-year jail term earlier this year (13), while Christopher Shroebel received a seven-year stint behind bars in 2012.