In 2006, Charles A. Mitchell of Petersburg found a convenient solution to his holiday shopping needs.

He spent more than $34,000 on friends and family -- including $800 for Godiva chocolates -- using the names and account numbers of 60 American Express card customers obtained by duping a Thai restaurant in Charlotte, N.C.

The scam was old hat for Mitchell, who had done much the same thing in Maryland four or five years ago.

But his 2006 shopping spree was out of the ordinary. He accomplished it with a cell phone smuggled into the Federal Correctional Institution Petersburg, where he was serving 71 months for his earlier crimes.