C.F Frost 
Charles E. Smith Jr., the former mayor of Woodmere, was sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay $10,621.23 in restitution after pleading guilty to using stolen financial information to buy gasoline.
U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko sentenced Smith in U.S. District Court of Northern Ohio in Cleveland.
From May 2019 through May 2020, Smith purchased stolen credit and debit card account information, including account numbers and addresses, from the dark web, according to a news release citing court records.
He then used a credit card reader encoder/writer to program that information onto blank cards and used those cards to make fraudulent purchases of gasoline at various gas stations in Northern Ohio. Court records state that Smith purchased the gasoline to fuel vehicles that he used to deliver packages for Amazon.
In total, Smith purchased at least $10,621.23 in gasoline using over 100 stolen debit and credit card accounts, the release said. After his arrest, investigators later determined that Smith had purchased more than 600 stolen debit and credit card accounts from the dark web, affecting victims in 25 states.
Smith pleaded guilty to one count of access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft on May 19.
A former professional baseball player for the Florida Marlins, Smith was elected Woodmere mayor in 2009 and was re-elected in 2013, serving through 2017.
He was then elected to Woodmere Village Council in November 2019 and resigned in April 2020.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Payum Doroodian.
