4 years, 9 months ago by Scott Hardy
Justice Department says Ryan Minter, 23, used stolen credit card info to buy tickets
A September trial date has been set for a former Western Illinois University student, indicted on charges that he engaged in a two-year scheme to defraud Amtrak.
The US Attorney's Office in Springfield said Friday that the indictment charges 23 year old Ryan Taylor Minter of Calumet City, Illinois with five counts of Wire Fraud. He's accused of using stolen credit card information to buy Amtrak tickets online. Minter then allegedly sold the tickets to students at a discount and pocketed the money. A statement says that the scheme allegedly took place from September 2016 to last November. The Government says it wants Minter to pay-back Amtrak over $15,000, and it intends to seize over $6,500 in cash that it seized from Minter. If convicted on all five counts, Minter could be sentenced to a total of 100 years in prison.
The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Peoria on June 19th, but had been sealed until Minter's arrest and arraignment. He was arrested on July 1 in Chicago, and appeared in U.S. District Court in Davenport on Tuesday. Minter's currently set to go on trial September 23rd, and remains on bond with conditions.
