Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 20-year-old Atsu Bedjean of Bronx, New York has been sentenced by Erie County Court Judge James Bargnesi to 5 years of probation.

Between the fall of 2016 and spring of 2018, the defendant, a former University at Buffalo (UB) student, used credit card information belonging to numerous unsuspecting individuals to purchase dozens of train and bus tickets for friends, family members and fellow UB students online. Once he purchased the tickets with the victims’ credit card information, he would then sell the tickets to his “customers” at a discounted rate and pocket the cash.   

None of the victims whose credit card information was compromised suffered any personal financial loss. The total loss to Amtrak was $21,028 in train ticket purchases. Adirondack Trailways lost $7,764 in bus ticket purchases.

Bedjean pleaded guilty to one count of Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class “E” felony, in October 2018.

As part of his guilty plea, the defendant signed confessions of judgment and agreed to repay the transportation companies. To date, Bedjean has paid $9,500 in restitution. He was ordered to pay the remaining amount in monthly installments.

DA Flynn commends Investigator Adam Peterkin of the Amtrak Police Department and Detective DJ Rehberg of the UB Police Department for their work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Christopher P. Jurusik from the DA’s Special Investigations and Prosecutions Bureau.