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Press Release
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday yesterday sentenced Juan Carlos Miranda Noda (29, Tampa) to eight years and one month in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The Court also entered a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $259,257, which constituted the proceeds of the conspiracy, and a restitution order in the amount of $424,433, to be paid to the victims.
According to court documents, from in or around May 2013, through 2015, Miranda Noda was the ring leader of a group of conspirators who stole rent payments from rent collection boxes at apartment complexes across the State of Florida and in Georgia. The conspirators staked out the drop boxes, burglarized them, and kept the money orders that the victim renters had purchased to pay their rent. The conspirators then washed or altered the original money orders, replacing the original names with their own names, and deposited the stolen money orders into accounts under their control at several banks located throughout Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties. They then shared in the proceeds of the thefts.
Five other conspirators will be sentenced for their involvement over the coming weeks.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service, the Clearwater Police Department, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Tampa Police Department, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, the Temple Terrace Police Department, the St. Petersburg Police Department, the Largo Police Department, the Bradenton Police Department, the Sarasota Police Department, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Palmetto Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Amanda Riedel and Megan Kistler.