WBRZ - Baton Rouge

GULFPORT, Miss. - A federal judge has sentenced a 26-year-old New Orleans man to three years in prison for identity theft involving $10,000 in purchases.

U.S. District Judge Walter J. Gex III sentenced Matthew Hawthorne on Wednesday and ordered him to make restitution and serve three years of post-release supervision.

Hawthorne and 28-year-old Bruce Daliet, also of New Orleans, were indicted after the U.S. Secret Service learned the men had driven from New Orleans to Hattiesburg and used stolen credit-card account numbers to buy gift cards and other items in the Hattiesburg area.

Hawthorne pleaded guilty on Nov. 14.

Daliet is serving a 21-month prison term. He was sentenced Aug. 15.