LifeLock

One of two men from Armenia was sentenced to time served and deportation for his part in an ID theft and card-skimming scheme that cost its victims’ more than $570,000.

Artur Grigoryan pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Grigoryan and his accomplice Artur Harutyunyan, also from Armenia, installed card-skimming devices at the checkout counters of Rite Aid drugstores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware with the help of a female Rite Aid employee.

The nearly undetectable card readers recorded the information from the magnetic strips on the back of bankcards as the owners used them to pay for their purchases. The account numbers and PINs were transferred to blank debit cards, which were used to withdraw more than $570,000 from the 70-plus victims’ accounts.

Grigoryan spent two years and two months in jail after his arrest in July 2007. With time off for good behavior, the time served meets the requirement of the 30 to 36-month mandatory sentence. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the financial institutions he stole from, but because he is about to be deported, even the judge said it was unlikely the money would ever be repaid.

Attorney Michael Engel claimed Grigoryan was pressured by Harutyunyan to participate in the crime, and that people Engle referred to as Armenian gangsters threatened Grigoryan and his family in Armenia.

Harutyunyan also pleaded guilty to the crimes and will be sentenced later this year. His attorney claimed Grigoryan recruited his client.

Grigoryan came to the United States from Armenia on a student visa, but didn’t return home when his visa expired.