U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that JESUS ENRIQUE GONZALES TORRES, 24, a Cuban national who had resided in Florida before traveling to the New Orleans area to steal credit card information, was sentenced after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. In April 2016, GONZALES TORRES and two codefendants were arrested in the Southern District of Florida on bond violations after they were found in the Florida Strait between Florida and Cuba by the United States Coast Guard. All three have been detained since then as flight risks.
U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown sentenced GONZALEZ TORRES to 30 months imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Additionally, GONZALES TORRES was ordered to pay restitution of $7,873.97 jointly and severally with his codefendants and a $100 special assessment.
In all, six defendants have pleaded guilty in the case to conspiring among themselves and with others to with possessing fifteen or more unauthorized and counterfeit access devices, as well as producing, possessing, and trafficking device-making equipment. According to court records, the defendants traveled from Florida in late July, 2015 and agreed to place card skimming devices on gas pumps in the New Orleans area. They also admitted to, among other things, possessing a card encoding machine, a card embossing machine, and a laptop computer containing stolen credit card information. GONZALES TORRES is the first defendant to be sentenced in the matter.
U.S. Attorney Polite commended the work of Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office, the United States Secret Service, and Homeland Security Investigations, who are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hayden Brockett was in charge of the prosecution.
--DOJ Eastern District of Louisiana
Source: U.S. Secret Service