Former Rutgers LB DeVera used dark web for credit card fraud

Former Rutgers linebacker Brendan DeVera, one of eight players involved in a credit card scheme that led to the school booting them from the team, turned to the dark web to obtain stolen credit card numbers according to a report by NJ.com on Saturday.

According to the report, DeVera needed money to pay off debts related to parking tickets. The report said he turned to the dark web to get stolen credit card numbers and then transferred the stolen money to various school debit cards.

After moving the money to school-issued debit cards, he used them at a Barnes & Noble to purchase Visa gift cards between $211 and $823.

The scheme began to unravel when an employee of Rutgers Dining Services noticed the fraud and called school police.

"While the criminal activity was brought to law enforcement's attention a couple of months ago, as you can imagine with something like this we need to time to gather the evidence, get the financial records," Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey told NJ.com. "Rutgers University Police Department did a very good job on this case. We've been able to work with the credit card companies and we're continuing to work backwards as we move forward with the investigation."

DeVera is believed the be the leader of the group and faces multiple charges. He is facing charges of promoting organized street crime in the second degree, third degree money laundering, third degree fraudulent use of credit cards and third-degree conspiracy to commit theft by deception.

DeVera pled not guilty on Thursday.

Other players named in the scheme are K.J. Gray, Edwin Lopez, Malik Vaccaro-Dixon, Syhiem Simmons, Christian Onyechi, Kwabena Marfo and Naijee Jones.

"We are very disappointed and frustrated," Rutgers AD Pat Hobbs told NJ.com. "We have been working extremely hard to build a culture of excellence across the department and this news detracts from the great strides we have made. We will continue that work."

Saturday's report was the latest black eye for the program.

Three weeks ago. Tejay Johnson, a 26-year-old former cornerback and Andre Boggs a 22-year-old former cornerback received 12-year prison sentences for armed robbery. They were implicated in robberies of students that occurred in 2015.

Devera was set to enter his sophomore season. In his first season, he made two tackles in 11 games.