Man arrested for stealing thousands using stolen credit cards gets probation
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POCATELLO — A Meriden, Connecticut, man has been sentenced to probation for his part in a fraud ring.
Kenneth Hoffner, 60, pleaded guilty to a felony for fraudulent use of a bank card after reaching a plea agreement with the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office. In exchange, felony charges for burglary and misappropriation of personal information were dismissed.
During a Feb. 5 hearing, District Judge Javier Gabiola suspended a prison sentence of three to five years, instead sentencing Hoffner to five years of felony probation, court records show.
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Hoffner — along with 25-year-old Jeremy Mclaren-Heron, of Hartsdale, New York, and 53-year-old Toni Schartow, of Tacoma, Washington — was arrested in August after fraud investigators from Idaho Central Credit Union contacted Pocatello Police. The investigators tied the trio to fraudulent transactions at numerous ICCU branches.
Pocatello officers arrested them after a failed attempt to withdraw $8,000 from the Benton Street branch of the credit union.
Mclaren-Heron did not offer much information to arresting officers, while both Hoffner and Schartow said they were being paid to make the fraudulent withdrawals for a man they knew as “Celo.”
Mclaren-Heron was sentenced to probation. Schartow is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on March 8.
As part of Hoffner’s probation, Gabiola ordered a discretionary jail sentence of 120 days, which a probation officer would be allowed to administer.
Hoffner has also been ordered to pay $1,845.50 in fees and fines.