An alert Warren County UPS store employee helped nab three men from Louisiana who were trying to mail 115 stolen gift cards back home.

Prosecutor David Fornshell said the three men had allegedly stolen about $2,800 worth of Walmart gift cards from stores in Franklin, Lebanon and Mason by forging credit cards, using other people’s card numbers.

Last week a grand jury indicted Darrin Barra, 20; Ronald Washington, 21; and Tevin Young, 22, all of New Orleans, on numerous counts of forgery, theft, misuse of credit cards, receiving stolen property and possessing criminal tools.

Fornshell said Barra allegedly had $1,200 worth of gift cards and could be sent to prison for 13 years; Young was allegedly found with about $1,400 in gift cards and could face 10 years behind bars. Washington allegedly had $200 in cards and could face five years in prison.

The prosecutor said the trio apparently obtained stolen credit card numbers and loaded them onto new cards — any card with a magnetic strip on it will do — and then used the bogus cards to buy real gift cards.

“Basically it is electronic laundering of money,” he said.

Fornshell said their downfall was when they went to the UPS store in Middletown to try and ship the gift cards south.

“I believe it was the way they tried to make payment for it seemed a little odd to the folks at the UPS store,” he said. “At that point in time they contacted law enforcement.”