Tampa, Florida U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore today sentenced Yuneski Perdomo (35, previously of Tampa) to four years and ten months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit access device (credit card) fraud and aggravated identity theft. The Court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $31,016.32, the proceeds of the credit card fraud.
Perdomo pleaded guilty on June 1, 2017.
According to court documents, in 2013, Perdomo was the ringleader of a conspiracy that included co-defendants Edel Gomez, Tonysbell Calero-Alvarez, and Jorge Duran-Blanco. The conspirators obtained stolen credit and debit account numbers that they then used to create or purchase counterfeit or cloned credit cards. The true owners of the accounts remained in possession of the cards, so they did not know to report them stolen. The conspirators then spent hours each day traveling around Florida, making purchases at various retail stores using the counterfeit credit cards. They purchased cigarettes and gift cards, among other things, that could be sold for cash, and shared the proceeds. In one instance, at Perdomos direction, Gomez, Calero-Alvarez, and Duran-Blanco used counterfeit credit cards at approximately 14 different Walmart locations in the Tampa Bay area over a 24-hour period. Agents identified $30,000 in actual losses and approximately $148,000 in intended losses attributable to the fraud, and they determined that more than 40 individuals stolen account information had been used.
Gomez, Calero-Alvarez, and Duran-Blanco pleaded guilty for their roles in this case and were sentenced in 2014 to 36 months imprisonment, 44 months imprisonment, and 5 years probation, respectively. Perdomo was a fugitive from late 2013 until late 2016.
This case was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Tampa Police Department, all of whom are members of the USSSs credit card fraud and identity theft task force. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mandy Riedel.
--DOJ Middle District of Florida
Source: U.S. Secret Service