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Press Release

Florida Woman Pleads Guilty to Credit Card Fraud Conspiracy

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maine

Portland, Maine:  Acting United States Attorney Richard W. Murphy announced that Meylisi Rueda, 22, of Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to commit access device fraud.

Court records show that between November 2015 and June 2016, the defendant and others used stolen credit and debit card numbers to purchase merchandise. In June 2016, as part of the conspiracy, the defendant and others traveled to Maine. On June 14, 2016, the defendant and co-conspirator Yaisder Herrera Gargallo purchased over $400 of merchandise at a Walgreens in Portland using a stolen card number belonging to a victim from New Gloucester, Maine. After the defendant and Herrera Gargallo made another fraudulent purchase using a different card number at another Portland Walgreens on June 15, 2016, store personnel notified the police and provided a license plate number.

On June 18, 2016, a Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped the vehicle in which Herrera Gargallo and two other co-conspirators, Jose Castillo Febles and Juan Carlos Febles, were traveling. The stop led to their arrest and the discovery of merchandise, numerous fraudulent credit cards, and a laptop computer. The laptop was later found to contain credit card numbers and related data, including the stolen card number the defendant and Herrera Gargallo used to make the fraudulent purchase on June 14, 2016.

Rueda faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. She will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. Her three co‑defendants have all pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

The case was investigated by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, the Portland Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service.

Contact

Craig M. Wolff
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257

Updated October 6, 2017

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