CLEARFIELD – A Curwensville man accused of using a using a debit card without permission of its owner and withdrawing over $3,000 pleaded guilty Tuesday.
Philip Roy Shape, 23, pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of access device fraud before President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman, who sentenced him to two years probation.
It was part of his plea agreement that he pay the restitution of over $3,900 in full prior to sentencing.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, in January of 2018, the victim reported to police some questionable transactions on her debit card that included online purchases. The victim did not own a computer and said she does not buy things online.
She suspected Shape and a relative whom she had given the card to use before Thanksgiving.
Surveillance footage from the bank showed an unknown male with glasses and facial hair making a transaction at the ATM.
When the additional transactions were reviewed, the same man, later identified as Shape, was seen.
He made several withdrawals within a week at two different banks and a convenience store in November and December of 2017 that totaled over $3,300.
A transaction made at a local business was also traced to Shape.
When questioned about how Shape may have gotten her PIN number, the victim said she never gave it to anyone. She added that she keeps the number in a different wallet than her bank and financial cards.
Both wallets were kept in the same purse, which she kept in her kitchen, which Shape may have had access to.
Shape was questioned in May of 2018 in a formal interview with investigators.
He stated “I’m not gonna lie. I did use the card, but I had permission to use the card.”
Shape was shown the bank statements that included the ATM withdrawals and over $570 worth of purchases from Amazon.
At first, he claimed that he paid her back, and then later admitted to the crime, saying “no sense in lying. I used the card,” according to the report.
