Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE — A Freeland woman must pay back more than $7,000 after pleading guilty to charges she opened a credit card in her former stepfather’s name.
Leia J. Lisnock, 36, pleaded Wednesday in Luzerne County Court to one felony count each of theft and access device fraud, according to court documents.
She must pay $7,365.25 to a Capital One account she created using stolen identification information, court papers say.
Judge Michael T. Vough scheduled Lisnock to be sentenced on May 26.
According to an affidavit, a Foster Township man in August 2013 reported to state police that he had discovered he owed a debt of more than $8,000 on a Capital One credit card account he never opened.
The man learned of the debt after he attempted to purchase a car and found his credit score was lower than what he expected, police say. He discovered the debt while looking into the matter.
He then spoke about the credit card with his ex-wife, court papers say, who told him he had mail at the house they formerly shared.
Among the mail, the man located notices from collection agencies informing him of the past-due debt, police say. But the address on the credit card account and collection notices reflected an address where he had never lived.
Aware that Lisnock, his former stepdaughter, lived at the residence, he notified police, court papers indicate.
When interviewed by state police in Hazleton, Lisnock admitted to opening the account and making several transactions, police say.
Lisnock said she obtained her former stepfather’s information when he left his wallet in her vehicle after attending the Bloomsburg Fair, court papers say.
According to the affidavit, she used a computer at an unemployment office to apply for the credit card.
Police say Lisnock used the card to buy Christmas gifts for her children.