Following a five-day trial before United States District Court Judge William P. Dimitrouleas, a jury convicted two brothers of all seven counts in the indictment for their participation in an identity theft scheme.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
Bechir Delva, 24, and Dan Kenny Delva, 27, both of Miramar, were each convicted of one count of conspiracy to possess fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(b)(2), one count of possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(3), and five counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1). The defendants were remanded into custody following their conviction.
According to evidence presented at trial, the defendants conspired to possess and did possess debit cards and over 1,600 Social Security numbers issued to other persons. To protect the stolen items in their possession, the defendants possessed several firearms, including an AR-15 rifle, a SIG 522 rifle and a.380 pistol. At trial, eight victims testified that they neither knew the defendants nor authorized them to possess their Social Security numbers and other personal information.
The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Court Judge William P. Dimitrouleas on May 11, 2016.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and ICE-HSI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John R. Byrne.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
