A credit card scam artist who used fake credit cards to steal TVs from motels throughout the Southeast has been sentenced to serve 70 months in federal prison.
Chad Kenney appeared before Judge Sandy Mattice.
He earlier pleaded guilty to credit card fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Kenney had been arrested in Cleveland, Tn., on Feb. 2 by the Cleveland Police Department after he checked into the Fairfield Inn using an unauthorized credit card and attempted to steal a TV.
A search of his car revealed 175 credit card imprints of valid credit cards.
Kenney told a Secret Service agent he had traded seven grams of meth for a few boxes of credit card numbers while in New Orleans. He said starting in September 2008 he began the scheme to steal motel TVs.
He would then check in, steal the TV and sell it at a gas station or on the Internet.
He said he had done this in New Orleans, Metarie, La., Keener, La., Lake Charles, La., Monroe, La., Lafayette, La., Shreveport, La., Jackson, Miss., Birmingham, Ala., Mobile, Ala., Atlanta, Columbus, Ga., Columbia, S.C., Greenville, S.C., Spartanburg, S.C., Chapel Hill, N.C., Winston-Salem, N.C., Greensboro, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., Bowling Green, Ky., Sterling, Va., Clarksville, Tn., Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis, Gatlinburg, Cleveland, Tn., Houston, Tex., Dallas, Tex., Fort Worth, Tex., and Pearland, Tex.
The manager of the Fairfield Inn had been alerted there was an individual named Kenney traveling around using a fraudulent credit card and stealing TVs. The manager called Cleveland Police, then instructed his staff to allow Kenney to check in.
He arrived with a tool box as luggage. He was in the process of unbolting the TV when he was arrested.