A 32-year-old Philadelphia man has been sentenced to spend more than five years in prison after pleading guilty to his role in a years-long scheme that turned stolen credit card data into diesel fuel that he resold for a profit.
According to the office of Jacqueline C. Romero, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, William Cole, 32, was sentenced to 70 months in prison for directing a scheme to steal diesel fuel from gas stations and for illegally possessing firearms.
In a statement on Cole's sentencing, Romero's office said that from March of 2021 through June 21, 2023, Cole purchased stolen credit card data and used that data to have co-conspirators fill up auxiliary tanks at Philadelphia-area gas stations -- at his direction and using his trucks -- with more than $750,000 worth of diesel fuel.
Cole would then resell the diesel fuel at a discounted rate, Romero's office explained.
Get Philly local news, weather forecasts, sports and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia newsletters.
A search of his home, Romero said, turned up a modified hand gun that Cole was prohibited from owning due to a previous conviction.
“Cole fueled his scheme using other people’s stolen information and armed himself with guns he knew he shouldn’t have,” said Romero in a statement. “This sentence holds him accountable for both his financial and firearms offenses. We’ll continue to work with HSI and our other valued partners to prosecute repeat offenders like William Cole.”
In October of 2023, Cole pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
