Man from China sentenced on 300 charges in Ohio Walmart gift card scam
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COSHOCTON, Ohio (WCMH) – A man indicted on hundreds of counterfeiting charges in a gift card scheme was sentenced Wednesday to one felony count.
Ming Xue, 33, of China, faced over 300 charges between counts of counterfeiting and of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity after he was arrested at the Walmart in Coshocton.
On Dec. 5, deputies were at the store for a "Shop with a Cop" event. While at the store, they said they saw Xue hiding unloaded gift cards in his clothes. They later found hundreds more gift cards in Xue’s car.
Xue was accused of scheming with other people to steal unloaded gift cards, alter them, and place them back on display racks. When those altered cards were purchased by customers, the cash loaded onto them would be stolen by Xue and his accomplices.
Xue was indicted in January, and in April he pleaded guilty to 299 counterfeiting charges and an additional count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. A Coshocton County Court of Common Pleas judge combined sentences from the charges, which totaled 4-6 years in prison.
The sentence also included an additional 18-36 months of post-release control. Xue will receive 164 days of credit toward his sentence from days spent in jail.