Three Men Sentenced for Involvement in ATM Jackpotting Scheme

Three men from South America were sentenced for their involvement in an ATM jackpotting scheme in Iowa.  

Jhonger Suarez, age 23, from Venezuela, was sentenced on November 3, 2025, after a September 4, 2025, guilty plea to one count of aiding and abetting bank larceny.  Ysmael Martinez Jimenez, age 38, from Venezuela, was sentenced on November 13, 2025, after a September 24, 2025, guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit bank larceny and one count of bank larceny.  Cristian Guillermo Canas Gomez, age 22, from Columbia, was sentenced on December 1, 2025, after an October 1, 2025, guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit bank larceny and one count of bank larceny.  

At his plea hearing, Suarez admitted to assisting a bank larceny from a bank in Dubuque, Iowa, on May 25, 2025.  At Martinez Jimenez’s and Canas Gomez’s respective plea hearings, they both admitted that they had conspired to commit the bank larceny.  Martinez Jimenez and Canas Gomez both admitted that they carried out a jackpotting scheme on an ATM at a bank in Dubuque.  A jackpotting scheme is a type of cyberattack where vulnerabilities of an ATM’s software are exploited, causing an ATM to dispense cash without debiting an account.  Martinez Jimenez and Canas Gomez obtained approximately $33,600 from the jackpotting scheme on the ATM in Dubuque.  Suarez was acting as a lookout in the area while they were conducting the jackpotting scheme. 

Suarez, Martinez Jimenez, and Canas Gomez were sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Suarez was sentenced to 125 days’ imprisonment.  Martinez Jimenez and Canas Gomez were each sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.  They were ordered to make $33,600 in restitution.  All three men must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after their prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Suarez has been turned over to immigration officials.  Martinez Jimenez and Canas Gomez are being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until they can be turned over to immigration officials. 

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Vander Stoep and was investigated by the Dubuque Police Department, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Marshals Service, and Enforcement and Removal Operations of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 25-CR-1028.

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