MIAMI RESIDENT SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR MULTI-STATE IDENTITY THEFT CONSPIRACY

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on May 21, 2009, RAUL A. GONZALES-RODRIGUEZ, age 21, of Miami, Florida was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison in US District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, East St. Louis Division, following his February 6, 2009 guilty plea for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The Defendant was ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence, and to pay restitution for his crimes. GONZALES-RODRIGUEZ is a Cuban born permanent resident of the United States.

GONZALES-RODRIGUEZ, and RONNY VAZQUEZ were indicted on December 2, 2008, following their arrest at the Super 8 motel, in Fairview Heights, Illinois. The evidence showed that the two co-conspirators acquired more than 120 credit card numbers that were stolen from a Miami business. The stolen credit card numbers were then embossed onto counterfeit credit cards and used by the defendants throughout Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Illinois, defrauding more than 20 financial institutions out of $44,932.02.

RONNY VAZQUEZ pled guilty to identical charges on April 2, 2009 and will be sentenced on September 11, 2009.

The investigation was conducted by the US Secret Service, the US Postal Inspection Service, and the Fairview Heights Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Steve Weinhoeft.