Defendant Sentenced to 12 Months in Prison for Credit Card Fraud

BOISE - Carlos Javier Miranda-Molina, 23, of Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced today in United States District Court to 12 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.  Visiting U.S. District Judge Dee V. Benson also ordered Miranda-Molina to pay restitution in the amount of $13,301.64.  Miranda-Molina pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud and possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices on August 4, 2015.

According to the plea agreement, Miranda-Molina admitted that in March of 2015, he and two co-defendants traveled together from Mexico, through Montana, to Idaho in a vehicle rented in Sonora, Mexico, for the purpose of using counterfeit credit cards to make fraudulent purchases of merchandise and gift cards.  In Montana, each defendant engaged in a number of transactions, using credit cards that the defendants knew to be counterfeit, at stores such as Auto Zone, TJ Maxx, Home Depot, Ulta, and others.  The defendants jointly and fraudulently obtained merchandise valued at approximately $8,184.01.  In Boise, the defendants again engaged in a number of transactions, using credit cards the defendants knew to be counterfeit, at stores such as Lowe’s, Sports Authority, Barnes and Noble, Nordstrom Rack, JC Penney, and others.  The defendants fraudulently obtained merchandise valued at approximately $5,117.63.  The defendants were arrested in possession of approximately 84 counterfeit credit cards embossed with their names, but encoded with victims’ credit card numbers, as well as merchandise purchased with the counterfeit credit cards, including GoPro Hero 4 Cameras, Samsung Galaxy Nooks, and video game systems.

The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Boise Police Department.