Felix Pena was sentenced to 60 months (5 years) after a plea to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He is also ordered to pay $404,069 in restitution. What got him to this point?
Well, between 2017-2019 there was a criminal gang that would use stolen IDs to create fraudulent Verizon Wireless accounts. Once created, the criminals would order as many phones and other goods as they could under the victim’s credit.
The gang would then ship the phones to NY or NJ where “they would be sold on the black market”.
In February 2019, two people were arrested trying to use stolen identities, which lead investigators to this gang.
Pena’s job in this gang is to take the stolen identities and check their credit status to determine if their credit was good enough to use as a victim in their scheme. Pena also distributed money to other gang members.
The government says Verizon lost $528,002.33 in this scheme, a bit more than Pena’s restitution.
Sources:
- https://www.justice.gov/usao-ne/pr/bronx-new-york-man-sentenced-conspiracy-commit-wire-fraud-and-aggravated-identity-theft
- https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59921310/united-states-v-giudice/
Transcript:
00:00:10:00 – 00:00:29:09
Keith
Today on eCrimeBytes nibble number 48, we’re going to talk about a man who was sentenced for ID theft and wire fraud using Verizon Wireless. Felix Pena was sentenced to sixty months, which is also five years after a plea to
00:00:29:09 – 00:00:39:29
Keith
conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He’s also ordered to pay $404,000 in restitution.
00:00:40:02 – 00:00:56:14
Keith
So what got him to this point? Well, between 2017 and 2019, there was a criminal gang that would use stolen IDs to create fraudulent Verizon Wireless accounts. Once created, the criminals would order as many phones and other
00:00:56:14 – 00:01:14:03
Keith
accessories under that victim’s credit that they could until the credit ran out. So once they got the phones, they meaning the gang, would then ship these phones to New York or New Jersey, where then they would be sold on the black market.
00:01:14:06 – 00:01:43:12
Keith
In February 2019, two people were arrested trying to use stolen identities, which led investigators to this gang. Pena’s job in this gang was to take the stolen identities and check their credit status to determine if they’re a credit worthy enough victim for their scheme. So basically, he would check their credit and if it wasn’t up to a certain bar, they wouldn’t use the person.
00:01:43:12 – 00:02:19:25
Keith
But if they had great credit above a certain bar, they would use them and then they would become a victim and they would charge all these phones and accessories to their name. Pena also distributed money to other gang members. The government says Verizon lost $520,000 in this scheme, which was a bit more than Pena’s restitution. So if you enjoyed this quick eCrimeBytess update, I’m going to guarantee you’re going to like one of our full eCrimeBytes episodes where my co-host Seth and I, we take a case like this and we get much deeper into it.
00:02:19:25 – 00:02:46:00
Keith
We tell you more about the attack, we tell you more about the victims and what happened to them. We tell you about the court process. If they’re caught, how they’re caught, we tell you what they’re sentenced to and if they serve their sentence. So, again, if you enjoy these real quick electronic crime updates, I’m going to guarantee you’re going to like one of our full episodes and I really hope to see you over there on one of them soon.
00:02:46:03 – 00:02:50:14
Keith
All righty. Thanks, bye
#ecrimebytes #electronic #truecrime #podcast #humor #funny #comedy #idtheft #pii #fraud #verizon
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