A man whose work as an undercover informant helped federal authorities break up a Romanian identity fraud ring in 2002 was sentenced to prison Monday in Minneapolis for stealing more than $100,000 in a similar scheme.

A tip about suspicious characters lurking around two Maplewood banks last March led police to arrest Ion Datcu, 52, a Romanian immigrant who lived in Seattle, and Stelian Cipu, 31, of Bucharest, Hungary.

The men possessed stolen credit cards and had attached an electronic "skimming" device to an ATM machine at TCF Bank in Maplewood to capture identity information from customers as they accessed their accounts. A search of the men's motel room recovered 47 Visa gift cards, a credit card scanner, a magnetic card encoder and other devices used in identity theft and bank fraud. A computer contained information on 230 account holders.

Cipu, who played a minor role in the crime, pleaded guilty in July. He was sentenced in November to time served and returned to Romania.

Datcu pleaded guilty in September. On Monday, he asked Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis for leniency, citing his earlier work as a government informant, and offering to help authorities investigate a Romanian organized crime ring that he said specializes in credit card theft.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick said that Datcu's work was considered key to the indictment of about 30 people. But the agent involved also said that Datcu was among the most manipulative informants he had worked with, she said.

Datcu has not followed through on an offer to help the government again, but if he does, she'll consider seeking a reduced sentence, she said.

Davis said he's aware that three top criminals in that crime ring have escaped and returned to Romania, and that threats made to Datcu's family in Romania were deemed valid. But Davis told Datcu that he should have worked out an agreement to help the government before he got involved in crime again.

In addition to serving 75 months in prison, Datcu must serve three years of supervised release and repay $104,907.47 to more than a dozen banks in nine states, including Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Dan Browning • 612-673-4493