PHOENIX – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – A nine-count indictment of 17 individuals from the Tucson area was unsealed today related to a conspiracy to fraudulently withdraw money from Automated Teller Machines and Automated Cashier Machines in and around Tucson, Ariz. Nine defendants were arrested over the weekend without incident by the U.S. Secret Service and assisted by the U.S. Marshal’s Service, Pima County Sheriff’s Office and Tucson Police Department. Five defendants remain at large.
Those named in the indictment used stolen credit and debit card numbers obtained from overseas suppliers and wired a percentage of the illegal proceeds back overseas.
All those indicted are charged with Conspiracy to Commit Offenses Against the United
States, Fraud in Connection with Access Devices; Fraud in Connection With Identification Documents, Authentication Features, and Information; Aggravated Identity Theft; Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, and aiding and abetting these offenses. The table below provides information on those indicted.
United States Attorney Paul K. Charlton said of the charges, “It is a tragedy that these
individuals, most of whom are under 25 years old, used their knowledge of today’s technology to steal from Tucson area financial institutions and from unsuspecting victims around the world.”
Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Ken Huffer stated “These arrests
represent the culmination of a nine month long investigation during which a significant amount of physical and electronic evidence was collected and assessed by the Tucson Resident Office of the U.S. Secret Service. This case is an outstanding example of cooperative efforts at the federal, state and local levels as Secret Service resources in and out of Tucson, the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center and the Tucson Police Department were instrumental in supporting this case. In addition the U.S. Marshal’s Service, Border Patrol and Pima County Sheriff’s office contributed significantly to the apprehension of the suspects and the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Pima County Attorney’s Office coordinated the judicial aspects.”
Several defendants solicited and were supplied with credit and debit card account
information of U.S. banking customers from individuals located in foreign countries, including Vietnam, Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt, Philippines, Macedonia, Romania, Estonia, Kosovo, Canada, Russia, United Kingdom, Panama, Morocco, Lebanon, Mexico, Australia, Lithuania, and France (“the suppliers.”) These defendants obtained this credit and debit card account information by visiting Internet Relay Chat rooms and forums run by the suppliers, as well as by private electronic messaging with these suppliers. In these chat rooms, the suppliers advertise the sale cashing of credit and debit card information that they have obtained by means of phishing, pharming, and spamming unsuspecting victims.
The information provided by the suppliers to these defendants included credit and debit card account numbers, associated personal identification numbers, algorithms, and proprietary information relating to the customer’s account, including the card verification value, expiration dates, passwords, and social security numbers. This information is required in order to produce a workable format to be encoded on track 2 data of counterfeit credit cards. Information contained on track 2 of the magnetic strip of a credit card is where the information is used to process a credit or debit card transaction.
They then used software to format the credit card information into usable track 2 credit
card information. This track 2 information was then encoded onto plastic cards with magnetic strips. During the conspiracy the defendants possessed more than 4,500 illegally obtained credit and debit card account numbers and associated personal identification numbers, and wire transferred more than $300,000 of the proceeds of the fraudulent credit and debit card transactions to the overseas suppliers of this credit and debit card account information.
Defendant Name, age and trial date
Robbin Shea Brown
Age 24
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
Arraigned on Nov. 3
Detained pending trial
Jacob Vincent Green-Bressler
Age 19
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
Arraigned on Nov. 3
Released on secured bond and conditions
Joshua Trever Lee Breshears
Age 20
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
IA/Arraignment on Dec. 1
Currently in State custody
David Lee Merrill
Age 25
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
IA on Nov. 7
Corrine Dazette Perez
Age 24
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
IA on Nov. 7
Richard Daniel Staton
Age 24
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
IA on Nov. 7
Rollin Edward Vaughn II
Age 23
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
IA on Nov. 7
-MORERandi
Michelle Rodela
Age 20
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
IA on Nov. 7
Joseph David Wallum
Age 20
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
IA on Nov. 7
Joseph Robert Jando
Age 21
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
Martin Corey Halula
Age 19
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
James Dennis Olsen
Age 19
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
IA on Nov. 7
Steven Don Olsen
Age 23
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
IA on Nov. 7
Christopher James Griffin
Age 23
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
Daniel Roy Leon Mendez
Age 20
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
Robin Duane Brown
Age 52
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
IA on Nov. 7
Ana Marie Honeycutt
Age 32
Trial Date:
Indictment: Oct. 26
Note: The IA is the initial appearance in federal court. The arraignment coincided with that in most cases, unless otherwise
indicated. The DH is the detention hearing; PH is the Preliminary Hearing.
The maximum penalties are as follows: Conspiracy to Commit Offenses Against the United
States, five years in prison, $250,000 fine or both; Fraud in Connection with Access Devices, two subsections – one carries 10 years in prison, $250,000 fine or both and the other carries 15 years in prison, $250,000 fine or both ; Fraud in Connection With Identification Documents, Authentication Features, and Information, five years in prison, $250,000 fine or both; Aggravated Identity Theft, two years in prison, $250,000 fine or both; Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, 20 years in prison, $250,000 fine or both. In determining an actual sentence, the assigned judges will consult the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.
An indictment is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service with assistance from the U.S. Marshal’s Service, Pima County Sheriff’s Office and the Tucson Police Department. The prosecution is being handled by Eric Markovich, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
