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 September 11, 2009, RONNY VAZQUEZ, age 22, of Miami, Florida was sentenced to 48 months imprisonment in federal prison in US District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, East St. Louis Division, following his April 2, 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.

RONNY VAZQUEZ and RAUL GONZALES-RODRIGUEZ were indicted on December 2, 2008, following their arrest at the Super 8 motel, in Fairview Heights, Illinois. The evidence showed that the two coconspirators 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. VAZQUEZ and GONZALES-RODRIGUEZ are both Cuban-born permanent residents of the United States.

On May 21, 2009, RAUL A. GONZALES-RODRIGUEZ, age 21, of Miami, Florida was sentenced on identical charges to 42 months in federal prison in US District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, East St. Louis Division, subsequent to his February 6, 2009 guilty plea.

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