A Florida man pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland to charges related to credit card fraud and identity theft.
Court records show Yaisder Herrera Gargallo, 24, of Miami and others used stolen credit and debit cards for purchases between November 2015 and June 2016.
In June 2016, Gargallo traveled to Maine. On June 14, he reportedly purchased over $400 worth of merchandise at a Portland Walgreens with a stolen credit card number belonging to a victim from New Gloucester. When he made another fraudulent purchase with a different credit card number at another Portland Walgreens, store personal contacted the police with his license plate number, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
On June 18, a Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped the vehicle with Gargallo and three other men inside. The stop led to their arrest, as well as the discovery of merchandise and multiple fraudulent credit cards. A laptop computer was also discovered that contained credit card numbers and related data, including the stolen number used for the fraudulent purchase on June 16.
Gargallo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge. He also faces a mandatory sentence of two years in prison on the identity theft charge, which would be served consecutively to the charge on the conspiracy sentence. The U.S. Probation Office will complete a presentence investigation report before his sentencing.
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, the Portland Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service investigated the case.
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