Arizona woman gets three months jail, 5 years probation on credit card fraud
Samantha Rautanen
90 Days jail, 5 years probation
Donovan Stief
Identity Theft, Fraud
A woman arrested on credit card fraud, identity theft and possession of heroin, has been sentenced to three months in the county jail and five years probation.
Samantha Rautanen was arrested February 3rd outside Lincoln City’s Tanger Mall after a store clerk declined to honor their VISA gift card which wasn’t working in the cash register. When Rautanen’s accused partner-in-crime suggested the clerk enter the numbers manually, the clerk declined and so the two left. The clerk called police who managed to nab the couple before they had a chance to leave the mall.
As it turned out, Rautanen and Donovan Stief had made bogus purchases at several stores in the mall. Police say purchases had also been made in Newport and in Washington County. Officers searched the couple’s car and found numerous packages of merchandise inside, all bought with fraudulent VISA gift cards.
Both were arrested and transported to the Lincoln County Jail in Newport.
Stief remains in the county jail on charges of Identity theft and credit card fraud. His bail is set at a quarter million dollars.
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