ROCKINGHAM — Two men are accused of using a stolen debit card and racking up more than $1,000 in transactions.
Timothy Paul Smith, 44, of Old Cheraw Highway, south of Rockingham, allegedly stole a debit card around Dec. 10.
Kelly Wayne Clayton, 42, of Marshall Avenue, Rockingham, is accused of using that card for a $312.77 transaction at Walmart the same day.
Smith allegedly used the card Dec. 10 and 11 at unnamed retail establishments in Rockingham with transactions totaling $706.45.
Both were arrested Dec. 17 by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and charged with one felony count each of identity theft and financial card fraud. Smith is also charged with financial card theft.
Smith is being held in the Richmond County Jail under a $10,000 secured bond. Court records show Clayton was released on bond Dec. 18. They are both scheduled to appear in court Jan. 6.
Online court records show both men have pending charges.
Smith has upcoming court appearances on two counts of misdemeanor larceny and larceny of a motor vehicle as well as for traffic infractions of hit and run with property damage and driving with a revoked license.
Clayton’s pending charges are: assault on a government official or employee; resisting a public officer; possession of drug paraphernalia; possession of methamphetamine; possession of heroin; possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana; maintaining a vehicle, dwelling or place for a controlled substance; simple possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance; possession of stolen goods or property; and driving with a revoked license.
Court records show Clayton has other charges from the Division of Community Corrections: injury to personal property; felony larceny; felony breaking and entering; obtaining property by false pretenses; and a misdemeanor probation violation.
Clayton is also facing the following charges in Scotland County: possession of a Schedule I controlled substance; first-degree trespassing; and misdemeanor larceny.
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Smith was first convicted of shoplifting in Onlsow County at the age of 16.
In 2001, Smith was convicted of driving while impaired, driving with a revoked license and operating a vehicle on a highway in Richmond County. His probation was revoked the following year when he was again convicted of a DWI — which he was charged with two weeks after the first — and an open container charge was added to the previous offense.
While serving time, Smith was found guilty of another DWI that he was charged with two months before the second conviction. He served three months.
In 2010, Smith was convicted of a 2007 DWI charge and his probation for that was revoked, landing him behind bars for nearly 15 months.
Clayton was given a suspended sentence in October of 2020 when he was convicted on misdemeanor charges of breaking and entering, larceny and possession of stolen goods.
Records show Clayton was first convicted in 2002 on three counts of driving with a revoked license and one count of “other misdemeanant.”
In 2004, Clayton was convicted on another count of driving with a revoked license, as well as three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia in New Hanover County.
Clayton was also convicted in 2018 of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance in Richmond County.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
