U.S. Department
of Justice
Florida Man Sentenced to 52 Months for Credit Card Fraud Scheme
MADISON, WIS. - Scott C. Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Janoy Garcia-Prieto, 31, Miami, Florida, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James Peterson to 52 months in federal prison for conspiring to commit access device fraud and possession of 15 or more counterfeit access devices. Garcia-Prieto pleaded guilty to these charges on May 29, 2019.
On September 12, 2016, Garcia-Prieto, Pedro Lorenzo-Concepcion, and Jorge Consuegra-Rojas attempted to use a counterfeit credit card inside of a grocery store in Mauston, Wisconsin. The group’s vehicle, which had been rented by Garcia-Prieto in New Orleans, was stopped by law enforcement shortly after leaving the store. Officers searched the vehicle and found multiple false identification documents, counterfeit credit cards, multiple cellular telephones, two computers, three flash drives, six credit card skimmers, a credit card reader/writer, and 280 gift cards valued at over $23,000.
A forensic search of the flash drives and computers revealed a total of 1,679 stolen credit card numbers, some of which had been used to purchase the recovered gift cards. The investigation also revealed that Garcia-Prieto, Lorenzo-Concepcion, and Consuegra-Rojas used fraudulent credit cards to conduct dozens of purchases at Sam’s Club stores throughout Minnesota between September 9 and September 12, 2016, for a total of $20,279.78 in fraudulent charges.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Peterson recognized that Garcia-Prieto played a critical role in a large-scale multi-state credit card fraud scheme and was actively involved in the scheme throughout the timeframe of the conspiracy. Judge Peterson also noted that Garcia-Prieto actively avoided arrest for over eight months after he was indicted by the federal grand jury in Madison on February 15, 2018. Judge Peterson also noted that Garcia-Prieto had a prior federal conviction in the Southern District of Florida for alien smuggling in 2011 and served a 30-month prison sentence.
In 2018, Judge Peterson sentenced Consuegra-Rojas to 60 months and Lorenzo-Concepcion to 46 months for their respective roles in the conspiracy.
The charges against Garcia-Prieto were a result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Juneau County Sheriff’s Office, and the Mauston Police Department. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wegner.