Local News in Brief : Man Sentenced for Fraud

A businessman who prosecutors said acted as a broker for telephone marketing operations that billed banks for fraudulent credit card charges was sentenced Thursday to one year in prison and fined $20,000.

Richard Barker, who pleaded guilty to two charges of fraudulent credit card use filed separately in Los Angeles and Indianapolis, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Keller.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Terree Bowers said Barker was a broker for telephone marketing operations, also known as “boiler rooms,” that used merchant accounts at various financial institutions to obtain payment on fraudulent credit card drafts.

Prosecutors said that after Barker was confronted by the Secret Service, he agreed to plead guilty and was used in an undercover operation to investigate and prosecute others suspected of generating bogus credit card drafts through fraudulent marketing techniques.