Framingham Man, Fresh Out Of Federal Prison, Arrested On New Hampshire Theft Charge
NASHUA, NH — A man from Massachusetts, fresh out of federal prison on device fraud charges, was arrested in Nashua Thursday on a new felony charges, accused of buying tobacco products with fraudulent credit cards.
Christopher Devante Richardson, 26, of Meadow Street in Framingham, Massachusetts, was arrested on a felony theft by deception-$1,501-plus-acting in concert charge. He was held without bail and arraigned in court on Friday.
Around 6 p.m. on July 30, officers were sent to the Tobacco Outlet on the Daniel Webster Highway for a report of a customer dispute. The store owner accused two men of possibly using stolen credit card numbers to buy products. One of the men was still at the scene, the owner told police. The owner said the men made the purchases during the past 48 hours and were retrieving numbers from their cellphones, an affidavit stated.
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The report stated an officer interviewed Richardson and he denied making any such purchases and was not found to have any products. After verifying his information, he was released.
On Aug. 2, a federal probation-parole officer contacted a Nashua officer about the case and noted Richardson “was recently released from prison” and “had recently been violated for similar charges,” an affidavit said. Three weeks before, he was released from federal prison on similar charges.
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About six weeks later, a detective revisited the store and received fraudulent transaction alerts from the company’s bank. The report stated all purchases were matched with transactions by Richardson and the second man, which were recorded on store security video.
During two days, the two men had racked up $6,678.82 “and took turns conducting each of the purchases,” the report stated.
“During each purchase,” a detective wrote, “Richardson and the unidentified male would routinely look to their phones before typing something (presumptively credit card information) into the Tobaccos Outlet’s transaction monitors.”
A warrant was issued against Richardson, and he was arrested on Nov. 19 at the Essex County House of Corrections in Middletown, MA, where he was being held on other charges. He was then brought to Nashua.
“Detectives attempted to conduct a post-arrest Mirandized interview,” a detective said, “however, Richards invoked his right to counsel and refused to provide a statement.”
According to federal court records, Richardson was convicted of conspiracy to commit access fraud and access device fraud.
In February and March 2021, Richardson, Marc Louissant, and Brian Vilnegre fraudulently purchased Target gift cards, debit cards, and merchandise by using forged or counterfeit access devices, court docs stated. At the end of the investigation, officials recovered more than $53,000 in cash and funds, as well as a Defton Bluetooth credit card reader-writer and other accessories.
In March 2023, he received a single day in prison plus three years of supervised release and a $300 fine in the Western District of Pennsylvania. After his one day sentence, he was transferred to the District of Massachusetts to serve more time.
Anyone with information about this case was asked to contact the department’s Crimeline at 603-589-1665.
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