Philly Thieves Targeted Female Moviegoers at “Chick Flicks”

Love, Actually? Theft, definitely!  Jamie McGowan, 25, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after being convicted of identity fraud in a case involving movie theaters in Connecticut. According to prosecutors, she and Anthony Johnson—both were from Philadelphia—perpetrated the scame in a series of theaters across Connecticut between 2008 and 2010: Johnson, who still awaits sentencing, “targeted movies that he believed were geared toward women.” The pair would sit behind an unwitting woman in the audience, then crawl under the seats to steal credit cards from the woman’s purse. Afterward, they’d create false driver’s licenses to accompany the credit cards, using McGowan’s photo. The scam let them purchase “thousands of dollars in gift cards and merchandise,” as well as secure a $5,000 advance at the Mohegan Sun casino. If this were a movie, Kate Hudson could totally play the lead in a story about a woman getting robbed while watching a Kate Hudson movie.  [New Haven Register]