Atlanta

4 sentenced after stealing $2.3 million in cigarettes from metro Atlanta Sam’s Clubs

By WSBTV.com News Staff

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By WSBTV.com News Staff

ATLANTA — A scheme to purchase millions of dollars of cigarettes with stolen credit cards has landed four people in prison.

According to the Department of Justice, Mamadou Sou, Demarcus Myree, Boubacar Tivalo and Jacob James used stolen credit cards and stolen identities to get more than $2.3 million in cigarettes from Sam’s Club locations across metro Atlanta over a four month span.

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Sou, Myree and Tivalo reportedly got Sam’s Club memberships and membership cards in their own names, as well as in the names of aliases. They then used dozens of stolen credit cards from September 2018 to November 2018 to purchase $1.7 million in cigarettes.

James was charged in a separate indictment for purchasing more than $635,000 of cigarettes from Sam’s Club using stolen credit cards from September 2018 to December 2018.

The defendants sentences include:

  • Mamadou Sow, a.k.a. Moussa Sow, 30, of Guinea - Sentenced to two years and six months in prison for access device fraud followed by two more years for aggravated identity theft. He will also serve three years of supervised release and pay $749,772.31 in restitution.
  • Demarcus Myree, a.k.a. Yuri Markosov, 27, of Atlanta - Sentenced to two years and six months in prison for access device fraud and possession of a stolen firearm followed by two more years for aggravated identity theft. He will also serve two years of supervised release and pay $339,545.42 in restitution.
  • Boubacar Tivalo, a.k.a. Tivado Boubacar, 46, of Guinea - Sentenced to two years and six months in prison for access device fraud followed by two more years for aggravated identity theft. He will also serve three years of supervised release and pay $664,305.52 in restitution.
  • Jacob James, a.k.a. Mark Johnson and Joe Johnson, 31, of Atlanta - Sentenced to two years in prison for access device fraud followed by two more years for aggravated identity theft. He will also serve three years of supervised release and pay $635,242.75 in restitution.

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“Identity thieves are a serious threat to our community because these scammers can steal so much of your hard-earned money and vanish before you’re ever alerted,” said Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger.

All four pleaded guilty to their charges in 2019.

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