Miami Man Pleads Guilty To Purchasing, Selling And Using Stolen Credit Card Information

WASHINGTON – Juan Javier Cardenas of Miami pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to traffic in and  possess unauthorized credit card numbers with intent to defraud, and one count of trafficking in unauthorized credit card numbers, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Michael K. Fithen of the U.S. Secret Service, Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Kenneth T. Jenkins Jr., of the U.S. Secret Service, Criminal Investigative Division.

At his plea hearing before U.S. District Court Judge K. Michael Moore, Cardenas, 45, admitted that from February 2008 through May 2009, he purchased stolen credit card information from a co-conspirator using the Internet.  Cardenas resold that information, also using the Internet, to others who used it to make fraudulent credit card purchases.  On May 27, 2009, when U.S. Secret Service agents searched his house, Cardenas had 26,669 credit card numbers stored on his computer. 

Cardenas faces maximum prison sentences of five years on the conspiracy charge and 10 years on the charge of trafficking in unauthorized credit card numbers.  Cardenas also faces fines and terms of supervised release on both counts, as well as forfeiture of any property or proceeds derived from his criminal activities.  Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 18, 2010.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Osborne of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Joseph E. Springsteen of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.  The case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service.