Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that YOETNIS VAZQUEZ PEDROSA, age 32, a Cuban national residing in Florida, was sentenced today after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and two counts of access device fraud.
U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown sentenced VAZQUEZ PEDROSA to 24 months in prison. Additionally, VAZQUEZ PEDROSA was ordered to pay restitution of $7,873.97 jointly and severally with his codefendants and a $100 special assessment.
VAZQUEZ PEDROSA pled guilty to conspiring with five co-defendants to possess fifteen or more unauthorized and counterfeit access devices, as well as producing, possessing, and trafficking device-making equipment. He also pleaded guilty to the substantive offenses of access device fraud and possessing device-making equipment. According to court records, the six defendants traveled from Florida in late July 2015, and agreed to place card skimming devices on gas pumps in the New Orleans area. All defendants have admitted to, among other things, possessing a card encoding machine, a card embossing machine, and a laptop computer containing stolen credit card information. In February 2016, while on bond in this case, VAZQUEZ PEDROSA was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm in the Middle District of Florida. That case remains pending, and VAZQUEZ PEDROSA is presumed innocent until proven guilty in that matter.
VAZQUEZ PEDROSA is the fourth defendant to be sentenced in this case. JESUS ENRIQUE GONZALES TORRES was previously sentenced to 30 months imprisonment; JULIET ESTRADA PEREZ was sentenced to serve 36 months; and LUIS RIVERA GARCIA was sentenced to a term of 57 months. As part of sentencing, U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown ordered VAZQUEZ PEDROSA to pay restitution of $7,873.97 jointly and severally with his codefendants and a $100 special assessment.
Acting U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the United States Secret Service, and Homeland Security Investigations in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hayden Brockett was in charge of the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
