Round lake Beach woman gets probation for debit card theft

A Round Lake Beach woman was placed on probation for 18 months after she admitted taking the debit card of a former boyfriend.

Tracy Houghton, 37, pleaded guilty to felony unlawful use of a credit card during a hearing before Lake County Circuit Judge John Phillips.

Assistant State's Attorney George Pappas said the victim in the case, who used to live with Houghton in the 100 block of East Hawthorne Drive, applied for a new debit card at his bank.

The bank mailed the card to the Hawthorne address in mid-August of 2009, Pappas said, because that was the address still listed on the account.

When he did not receive the card after several weeks, the victim called the bank and was told the card had been activated by someone using his Social Security number, Pappas said.

Police were called after bank officials also told the man someone had tried to use the card on Aug. 20 at a gas station on Rollins Road.

Police reviewed the security video from the gas station and saw Houghton trying several times to use the card to withdraw cash from an automated teller machine. Pappas said no cash was dispersed because Houghton was not entering the correct personal identification number.

Houghton could have been sentenced to up to three years in prison if she had been convicted after a trial.