3rd person pleads guilty in Monroeville rental-car scam

A third person has pleaded guilty to involvement in a credit-card fraud scheme which cost a regional car-rental company more than $500,000.

Tai Jauna L. Jones, 29, of Pittsburgh pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, after prosecutors said she provided credit card numbers and personal information used to rent cars at an Avis rental location in Monroeville.

Between November 2022 and February 2023, prosecutors said Jones supplied former Avis manager Jackie L. Neubauer, 41, of Youngwood with credit card numbers that were then used to fraudulently rent cars in exchange for heroin and cash.

Avis officials noticed in late 2022 that the number of cars being rented at their Monroeville location had gone up dramatically from an average of five per day to an average of 20, according to Monroeville police. An internal Avis investigation revealed the same fraudulent names and credit card numbers showing up on multiple rental contracts, police said.

In total, prosecutors said charges for more than 140 unauthorized car rentals were processed.

Neubauer pleaded guilty to similar charges as Jones about a year ago.

Last September, Cheron Tucker, 28, of Brentwood also pleaded guilty to similar charges. Tucker was already on supervised federal release after being sentenced to three years in prison in 2020 for an identity theft scheme involving fraudulent hotel room booking and car rentals, according to federal court records.

Prosecutors did not detail how Jones was able to access the credit card numbers, according to court documents.

She is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 14.