A routine traffic stop initiated by Livonia police last week resulted in the arrest of a man accused of possessing the personal account information of 20 people.
James Slater, 21, of Detroit, was arrested last week and charged Monday with 20 counts of possessing a fraudulent financial transaction device and one charge of operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license.
Slater was arrested Friday afternoon near Five Mile and Middlebelt after Livonia police pulled him over. Police said he was seen driving without a seat belt on, and they saw a cracked windshield and burnt-out light.
Police said Slater handed the officer a state identification card during the stop, telling them his license was suspended. He was asked to step out of the car and was arrested. After police went through his vehicle, they reportedly discovered a backpack that had a credit card embossing machine, a label maker, a blade from scissors, a credit card encoder and several hundred plastic cards, including some that appeared to have some fraudulent info on them.
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When police took the cards back to the station, they reportedly checked the strips on the more-than 200 cards and discovered 20 cards had fraudulent information and names on them.
Slater is currently being held in Wayne County Jail on a $500,000 cash or surety bond. He's due to return to court April 20 for a probable cause conference and April 27 for a preliminary examination. If convicted, Slater faces up to six years in prison, as he's been charged as a habitual offender.
Michigan Department of Corrections records show Slater is on probation from an unarmed robbery charge he pleaded to in Oakland County that took place in 2015. Records show Slater was sentenced to five years probation, which is scheduled to end in 2021.
[In Flint, a pastor is accused of using the Bible to scam retirees and laid-off auto workers out of millions of dollars. Read more here.]
dveselenak@hometownlife.com | 734-678-6728 | Twitter: @DavidVeselenak