BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Froilan Tressord Bonilla, 31, of Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty to access device fraud, before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John D. Fabian, who is handling the case, stated that Customs and Border Protection officers encountered the defendant on April 10, 2017, at the Peace Bridge Port of Entry in Buffalo after he was refused entry into Canada by the Canadian Border Services Agency. Officers inspected Bonilla’s car and found 65 cards, including credit cards, gift cards and debit cards. Officers also found a laptop computer and a card-encoding device. Examination of the cards revealed that 28 of the cards were counterfeit, having had their magnetic strips re-encoded with new information inconsistent with the number, name, merchant or institution, listed on the front of the card. A search of the defendant’s phone revealed lists of credit card numbers, photographs of gift and credit cards, screenshots of online shopping carts for purchasing credit card numbers, and evidence of money transfers to China, Vietnam and the Ukraine.
The plea is the result of an investigation by Customs and Border Protection, under the direction of Director of Field Operations Rose Brophy, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 12, 2018, at 1:00 pm before Judge Arcara.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
