Tampa Man Pleads Guilty To Credit Card Fraud

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051
 
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Jose Valdivia Quinones, 41, a Cuban National of Tampa, Florida, who was convicted of bank fraud, was sentenced to 10 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. The defendant was also ordered to pay $1,642.51 in restitution.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell T. Ippolito, Jr., who handled the case, stated that Quinones fraudulently obtained the credit/debit card numbers of actual people and then encoded counterfeit cards with the information illegally obtained. The defendant then used the counterfeit cards to purchase merchandise at Tops Markets stores in the Towns of Hamburg and East Aurora. 

Quinones was arrested along with five other defendants, Eduardo Quinones Hernandez, Yasser Carrillo Chartrand, Yaily Santurio Milian, Claudia Diaz Diaz, and Misael Toledo Rios. Hernandez, Milian, Diaz and Rios have all been convicted; charges are still pending against Chartrand. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero, the U.S. Secret Service, under the direction of C. Todd Laster, and the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Steven Nigrelli.