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Cops: Pair arrested on felony charges for credit card theft

Two Riverhead men are facing multiple felony charges in relation to stealing credit cards.

Riverhead Town Police arrested Richard Johannes, 22, and Gino Florian, 18, in connection to a June 20 burglary at a home on 5th Street. Police said the pair stole credit cards along with other items and the credit cards were later used at several Riverhead businesses.

Mr. Johannes and Mr. Florian were arrested on July 7 following an investigation. Mr. Johannes was charged with two counts of criminal possession of stolen property and one count of identity theft.  Mr. Florian was charged with one count of identity theft and one count of criminal possession of stolen property.

Both were remanded to the Suffolk County Correctional Facility and the investigation into the use of the credit cards continued.

Mr. Johannes was released on July 13 and the next day Riverhead police responded to a report of a pocketbook being stolen from a vehicle on East Main Street in Riverhead.  The investigation led to Mr. Johannes being arrested again.

At the time of his arrest, Mr. Johannes was found to be in possession of credit cards that had been in the victim’s pocketbook when it was stolen. He was charged with criminal possession of stolen property and grand larceny.

The continuing investigation into the credit cards that had been stolen during the June 20 robbery resulted in eight additional felony charges. On July 14, Mr. Johannes was charged with four counts of criminal possession of stolen property and four counts of identity theft. These charges are in addition to the initial charges on and are related to the use of the credit cards, police said.

Mr. Johannes was processed at Riverhead Police Department and held for arraignment.  Mr. Florian remains in the Suffolk County Correctional Facility and additional charges against him for the use of the credit cards from the burglary are anticipated, Riverhead police said.

Photo caption: Gino Florian, 18, left, and Richard Johannes, 22, are facing multiple charges in connection to credit card theft. (Riverhead Police Department courtesy photo)