Share this article
5 Members of US National Guard Arrested for Alleged Bitcoin Scam
A group of US Army National Guard members have been arrested and charged with a scheme to use bitcoin to purchase stolen credit cards
By Stan Higgins
Updated Sep 11, 2021, 12:17 p.m. Published May 23, 2016, 9:30 p.m.
A group of US Army National Guard members have been arrested and charged with a scheme to use bitcoin to purchase stolen credit card numbers in order to make fraudulent purchases from a number of military bases.
The Justice Department has said that three guardsmen – Derrick Shelton, James Stewart and Quentin Stewart – were arrested last week after being indicted earlier this month.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The men were accused of using bitcoin to buy stolen credit and debit card numbers online and then use magnetic strip re-encoding tools and software to apply those stolen numbers to actual cards in their possession.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, the alleged crimes were carried out between July 2014 and May 2015.
The government said in a release today:
“[The defendants] selected and purchased stolen credit and debit card numbers of individuals and businesses holding federal credit union accounts, and those with billing addresses in or near Maryland. They bought magnetic strip card-encoding devices and software to re-encode credit, debit and other cards with the stolen credit and debit card numbers.”
From there, the government alleged, the re-encoded cards were used to purchase a variety of products, including consumer electronics, luxury items and gift cards from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, a retail chain that operates on military bases.
The three Guardsmen each face as many as 20 years in prison if convicted.
Another National Guardsmen, Jamal Moody, was indicted separately but was accused of similar crimes, including the purchase of stolen credit and debit card numbers with bitcoin. He plead guilty, according to the statement, and awaits sentencing.
A fifth Guardsman, Vincent Grant, was indicted separately and faces as many as seven-and-a-half years in prison on an access device fraud charge. All five Guardsmen involved were based in Maryland and Washington, DC.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Fidelity's Jurrien Timmer: Expect lame 2026 as four-year bitcoin cycle appears intact
The director of global macro at the asset management giant remains a secular bull on bitcoin, but isn't optimistic about the next year.
What to know:
- A number of notable market analysts of late have dismissed the idea of bitcoin's four-year cycle and the nearly certain bear market that might imply.
- Fidelity's Jurrien Timmer, however, says the action so far this time around lines up about perfectly with past four-year cycles and the current bearish action should last deep into 2026.
Top Stories
