A man, recently deported from the United States, was on Tuesday sentenced to seven years behind bars after pleading guilty in the Half-Way-Tree Resident Magistrate's court to running up a $513,000-bill with a stolen credit card.

Michael Francis, the court was told, was deported earlier this year and had been staying at the house of the complainant in the matter, Errol Lowe, since then.
The court was told that in July Francis got hold of Lowe's credit card and subsequently obtained a fraudulent driver's licence in Lowe's name, and between July 11 and July 19 Francis used the credit card to perform several transactions at various businesses within the Corporate Area. They included several gaming lounges, a jewellery store and a sporting goods store.

The total value of the transactions was listed by the investigating officer as $513,000, with individual bills being as high as $68,000, $54,400 and $54,384.
When Francis appeared in court he pleaded guilty to 20 counts of obtaining money by means of false pretence and one count of false declaration, pertaining to the fraudulent driver's licence.

"If he had used it (the credit card) to buy food or raiment then I could understand. But we see him going to all these gaming lounges to spend so much money. I can't understand that," the presiding magistrate, Judith Pusey, said on Tuesday.

She then sentenced Francis to serve three years behind bars for the false declaration, and four years for all the counts of obtaining money by false pretence. The four-year sentence will, however, run consecutive to the three-year sentence, which means Francis will serve a total of seven years behind bars.

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