Rene Arviso Velasquez, 51, pleaded guilty on Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to three counts of access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to court documents, Velasquez admitted to stealing at least $47,000 from victims in the St. Louis area and other locations across the United States through a series of credit card thefts.
The plea agreement outlined several incidents. On August 25, 2024, Velasquez stole a Lululemon belt bag from a restaurant patron in Cottleville, Missouri. Within an hour, he used the stolen credit card to purchase five Visa gift cards and a pack of salted nuts totaling $1,031. Later that day, he took another victim’s purse at a Brentwood restaurant and soon after bought $1,445 worth of gift cards with her credit card. On November 3, 2024, Velasquez stole a wallet from a woman at a St. Peters restaurant and used her credit card within an hour to buy five Visa gift cards and a Pepsi for $1,035.
Velasquez has also used the names Miguel Antonio Carrasco-Gomez and Henry Diaz. He was residing in Tarzana, California but is identified as a Chilean national.
He is scheduled for sentencing on February 17, 2026. The charges of access device fraud each carry up to ten years in prison and fines up to $250,000 or both; aggravated identity theft carries an additional mandatory two-year sentence consecutive to any other penalties.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation into this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is handling the prosecution.
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