ARLETA : Man Sentenced for ‘Cloning’ Phones
An Arleta man who was arrested after Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies found “cloned” cellular telephones in his home has been sentenced to 30 days on a Caltrans work crew after pleading no contest to fraudulently obtaining telephone service.
Van Nuys Municipal Judge Alan Ellis handed down the sentence Wednesday to George Dana, 31, said Deputy City Atty. Kenneth Tso, who handled the case.
The judge also placed Dana on two years probation and ordered him to pay restitution to Air Touch Cellular and L.A. Cellular, the amount of which will be determined at a hearing Nov. 21.
Dana was arrested June 14 at his home by sheriff’s deputies who received a tip that the location was being used to store cloned cellular telephones, which had been illegally altered so that calls made on them were charged to the numbers of legitimate telephone users.
Deputies found four cloned cellular telephones at Dana’s residence, including one that had been reported stolen in Ventura County in February.
Ellis ordered that the telephones seized at Dana’s house be donated to the Sheriff’s Department.
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