United States v. Gagandeep Saini

I. Background

The grand jury returned a four-count superseding indictment that charged Saini with: Count 1, possession of device making equipment (a credit card encoder) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(4); Count 2, possession of at least fifteen unauthorized access devices in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(3); Count 3, aggravated identity theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1), based on Saini’s unlawful possession of a “California Driver’s License number

1 Saini’s first name has been misspelled in the caption throughout this action. This is the correct spelling of his name.

UNITED STATES V. SAINI 5

belonging to [Ahmar Siddiqi], during and in relation to the offense” charged in Count 2; and Count 4, possession of stolen mail in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1708. The superseding indictment also charged Saini with aiding and abetting Paulina Schaiy to commit all four offenses. Schaiy had pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and agreed to cooperate with the government.

The following is the relevant evidence presented at Saini’s trial.

In December 2016, Burbank Police Detectives Dugas and Starkov arrested Saini and Schaiy after finding…