Xao Thao, 25, of Lincolnton recently pleaded guilty in the United States District Court in Augusta to one count of possessing more than 15 unauthorized credit card numbers and one count of aggravated identity theft.

The announcement was made by Edmund A. Booth, Jr., United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

Booth stated that evidence at the plea hearing showed that Thao fraudulently recorded and stored hundreds of credit card numbers, which belonged to patrons at a restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina. The defendant worked as a cashier at the restaurant in the fall of 2008.

The evidence also showed that Thao made unauthorized purchases using some of those credit card numbers after she moved to Lincolnton in early November of 2008. She was arrested by personnel with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office on No- vember 21, 2008.

According to Booth, Thao faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on the charge of unauthorized possession of credit cards.

Thao likewise faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years imprisonment for aggravated identity theft, which must be served following any prison sentence for her conviction of possessing unauthorized credit card numbers.

After the completion of a pre-sentence investigation and report, a sentencing date will be set.

FBI Special Agent Paul Kubala and Investigator Jack Hancock of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office conducted the investigation associated with the guilty plea.

The government is represented in this case by Assistant United States Attorney David M. Stewart.