Two foreign nationals arrested in Brecksville after a traffic stop were indicted in federal court for having more than 370 stolen credit card account numbers and related information, said David A. Sierleja, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging Yasmany Luis Cabello-Morell, 29, a citizen of Cuba, and Honorio Mendoza-Herrara, 21, a citizen of Mexico, with possession of 15 or more counterfeit or unauthorized credit cards, possession of credit card-making equipment and aggravated identity theft.
Brecksville police stopped the vehicle driven by Cabello-Morell for speeding on I-77 on July 3. A search of the vehicle revealed five MasterCard gift cards that had been re-encoded with stolen credit card account information, as well as a laptop computer, a card reader/writer/encoder and two credit-card skimmer devices, according to court documents.
A subsequent search of the laptop computer revealed approximately 370 stolen credit card account numbers and related information, including the account holders’ names, according to court documents.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert W. Kern and Megan R. Miller are prosecuting the case following an investigation by United States Secret Service and the Brecksville Police Department.
If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal records, if any, the defendants’ roles in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial, in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
--DOJ Northern District of Ohio