WOODMERE, Ohio — The ex-mayor of Woodmere, who also spent two seasons as an MLB pitcher, has been sentenced to 33 months in jail and ordered to pay more than $10,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to stealing credit card information to buy gas to fuel his truck that he used to make deliveries for Amazon.
U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko sentenced Charles E. Smith, Jr. to 33 months in jail and ordered him to pay $10,621.23 on Thursday. Smith, who previously spent two seasons pitching for the Florida Marlins before serving two terms as the mayor of Woodmere from 2009-2017, committed the crimes between May 2019 and May 2020, court documents show.
During that time, Smith is alleged to have purchased stolen credit and debit card account information, including account numbers and addresses, from the dark web. He then proceeded to use a credit card reader encoder/writer to program that information onto blank cards and used those cards to make fraudulent purchases of gasoline at gas stations throughout Northern Ohio.
The gasoline was purchased to fuel vehicles that Smith used to deliver packages for Amazon, court documents show.
Using more than 100 stolen credit card and debit card accounts, Smith purchased at least $10,621.23 worth of gasoline. Following his arrest, investigators determined he had purchased more than 600 stolen debit and credit card accounts from the dark web, affecting victims in 25 states.
On May 19, 2022, Smith pleaded guilty to one count of access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Assistant U.S. Attorney Payum Doroodian prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service.