MONROE - A Brodhead man pleaded no contest last week to charges that he ran an ongoing and systematic credit card fraud targeting Bank of Brodhead customers and others.
Tyson L. Blum, 30, was convicted in Green County Circuit Court of two Class H felony counts of misappropriating ID information and two Class A misdemeanor counts of receiving or concealing stolen property.
Judge James Beer sentenced Blum Sept. 9 to two years of probation under a deferred prosecution agreement, with conditions that include restitution, counseling and attending quarterly monitoring conferences.
The charges stem from an investigation into unauthorized debit and credit card charges in early 2012 at businesses in the area, including at the Menard's in Beloit.
During a traffic stop in Oregon on Feb. 7, 2012, police found a credit card embossment machine in the backseat of Blum's vehicle and a notebook with handwritten pages filled with numerous debit and credit card numbers belonging to Bank of Brodhead customers.
One of Blum's victims, a Brodhead woman, wrote that the Bank of Brodhead had reimbursed her and her husband for their losses and now she wanted Blum to reimburse the bank and get jail time.
"We feel every time something like this happens, it costs everybody in the long run," she wrote. "Emotionally, the idea that somebody local had cleaned out my checking account and stolen my credit card was very upsetting."
Tyson L. Blum, 30, was convicted in Green County Circuit Court of two Class H felony counts of misappropriating ID information and two Class A misdemeanor counts of receiving or concealing stolen property.
Judge James Beer sentenced Blum Sept. 9 to two years of probation under a deferred prosecution agreement, with conditions that include restitution, counseling and attending quarterly monitoring conferences.
The charges stem from an investigation into unauthorized debit and credit card charges in early 2012 at businesses in the area, including at the Menard's in Beloit.
During a traffic stop in Oregon on Feb. 7, 2012, police found a credit card embossment machine in the backseat of Blum's vehicle and a notebook with handwritten pages filled with numerous debit and credit card numbers belonging to Bank of Brodhead customers.
One of Blum's victims, a Brodhead woman, wrote that the Bank of Brodhead had reimbursed her and her husband for their losses and now she wanted Blum to reimburse the bank and get jail time.
"We feel every time something like this happens, it costs everybody in the long run," she wrote. "Emotionally, the idea that somebody local had cleaned out my checking account and stolen my credit card was very upsetting."