Juan Jose Rodriguez-Castro, 36, and a fellow Dominican national, Wilberd Armando Reyes-Castro, 26, were arrested by Pawtucket Police on June 6, 2018, when officers responded to a 911 emergency call for an armed home invasion in progress at a Pawtucket residence.
According to information presented to the court, upon arrival at the residence, Pawtucket Police detained three individuals as they fled out a rear door. It is alleged that jewelry and a watch belonging to individuals inside the apartment were located on the individuals detained by the officers. Officers then entered the apartment to search for a firearm purportedly used in the robbery.
Inside the apartment, officers encountered Rodriguez-Castro and Reyes-Castro, and observed in the dining room a laptop computer, color printers, a laminating machine, a home-made ATM-style card reader, and American Express signature stickers similar to those used on the backs of credit cards.
A further court-authorized search of the residence resulted in the seizure of seven laptops containing credit card numbers of approximately 18,000 individuals. Also seized was equipment used to steal credit and debit card information at gas pumps, a mobile credit card reader, the inside of an ATM, a photo ID card printer, numerous flip phones, a laminating machine, color printers, numerous flash drives, credit card readers and scanners, blank checks, boxes of identification holograms used to make drivers licenses from the states of Wyoming, Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Tennessee and Connecticut, three Dominican passports in the names of other individuals, numerous blank credit cards with chips, and numerous other items commonly used in the creation of fraudulent identification documents and access devices.
Juan Jose Rodriguez-Castros guilty plea to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and possession of unauthorized access devices is announced by United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman, Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves, and Craig A. Marech, Resident Agent in Charge of the Providence Office of the United States Secret Service.
Rodriguez-Castro is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., on April 10, 2020.
Wilberd Armando Reyes-Castro pleaded guilty on December 9, 2019, to aggravated identity theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 12, 2020.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lee H. Vilker.
The matter was investigated by the Pawtucket Police Department and the United States Secret Service, with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations.
-- District of Rhode Island
Source: U.S. Secret Service