The U,S, Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced Monday that Rehan A. Merchant, 39, of Monroe County, pleaded guilty to an Information that charged him with conspiring to commit wire fraud, and with aggravated identity theft. Merchant previously was indicted by a federal grand jury on November 10, 2015, and has remained in federal custody since his arrest.

According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, Merchant was the owner and operator of the Cigar and Tobacco Outlet in Tannersville. The superseding information charges Merchant with conspiring with unindicted co-conspirators, from in or about September 2014 through September 2015, to use and attempt to use counterfeit and stolen credit and debit cards to make fraudulent purchases at the Cigar and Tobacco Outlet. Merchant and his co-conspirators also allegedly forged the names of cardholders on the associated credit and debit card receipts.The investigation was conducted by special agents with Homeland Security Investigations and detectives from the Monroe County District Attorney's Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip J. Caraballo.