Two Venezuelan gang members get 10 months for Mississippi ATM jackpotting; face deportation

Two Venezuelan members of the Tren de Aragua gang were sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office announced Friday. United States District Judge Michael P. Mills imposed the terms.

The men, identified by the attorney general’s office as Darrin Moises Daza-Segura and Winder Alexander Canelon-Tiapa, traveled throughout Mississippi reprogramming bank ATMs to dispense large amounts of cash, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi said. The tactic is commonly known as “ATM jackpotting,” the prosecutors said.

Mills also ordered each man to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $47,250 in restitution to the affected banks, the attorney general’s office said. The sentences call for custody in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and both men will be subject to deportation upon release, the office said.

The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office said its Cyber Fraud Task Force investigated the scheme with assistance from local police departments in Madison, Raymond, Tupelo and Amory, as well as the Duncanville, Texas, and St. George, Utah, police departments. The office said the arrests likely prevented nearly $180,000 in potential fraud losses. Attorney General Lynn Fitch said, “Thanks to the diligent work of our Cyber Fraud Task Force, we were able to prevent nearly $180,000 in losses, deprive TdA gang members of money to fund their crimes, and set up the deportation of two criminal illegal aliens.”

Source: Original Article