A Hazelwood man who used stolen identities and credit card information purchased on the dark web to rent vehicles for people involved in drug trafficking and other crimes was sentenced Wednesday in federal court.

Theodore Brown, 32, was sentenced to four years in prison by U.S. District Judge Marilyn J. Horan. He also was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $550,000 in restitution.

Brown pleaded guilty in February to access device fraud, use of unauthorized devices and aggravated identity theft charges stemming from a scheme that used stolen personal identification information and credit card numbers, including data purchased on the dark web, to fraudulently rent vehicles from a regional rental car company.

Federal prosecutors said Brown was part of a conspiracy that obtained rental vehicles from an Avis rental location in Monroeville, according to court records.

Working with a rental car employee, members of the group fraudulently rented more than 140 vehicles between September 2022 and February 2023, then used the cars themselves or supplied them to others involved in drug trafficking and other criminal activity.

The scheme resulted in more than $800,000 in losses, according to U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti.

Brown is one of several people convicted in the scheme. Previous defendants include former Avis manager Jackie L. Neubauer of Youngwood, Tai Juana L. Jones of Pittsburgh, Cheron Tucker of Brentwood and William Knight.

In October 2022, Brown was involved in the rental of a Lexus ES 350 using a credit card number without the owner of the account knowing. Then, a week later, Brown continued to use the card to rent the vehicle for another week, according to court documents.

Brown’s attorney, Robert E. Mielnicki, sought a reduced sentence, citing Brown’s job as a health coordinator at UPMC since 2021 and his shared custody of two children, ages 5 and 10. Mielnicki also argued that Brown played a comparatively limited role in the conspiracy, according to court records.

Mielnicki said Brown has “made every effort to rehabilitate himself since 2023.”

Court records do not detail how many fraudulent rentals Brown personally arranged or how he was able to access the credit card numbers.