10 sentenced for credit card skimmers

YOUNGSTOWN — Ten people were sentenced in federal court for installing credit card skimmers at several places in Northeast Ohio, including Austintown, and stealing account information from thousands of people, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Ohio.

Sentenced were:

Ranset Rodriguez, 41, of Miami: 81 months in federal prison.

Jose Manuel Iglesias, 52, of West New York, New Jersey: 81 months in federal prison.

Yaniris Alfonso, 32, of Miami: 57 months in federal prison.

Edelberto Hernandez, 46, of Kiowa, Colorado: 33 months in federal prison

Yadian Quesada-Hernandez, 32, of Tampa: 30 months in federal prison.

Alejandro Moises, 53, of Miami: 24 months in federal prison.

Luis Enrique Jimenez Gonzales, 28, of Hialeah, Florida: 24 months in federal prison.

Eddy Pimentel-Vila, 46, of Jersey City, New Jersey: 24 months in federal prison.

Yonasky Rosa, 35, of Tampa: 22 months in federal prison.

Lester Enrique Castaneda, 39, of Hialeah, Florida: six months in federal prison and six months of home detention.

Juan Carlos Banos, 59, of Parma, and Carlos Rodriguez Martinez, 43, of Aurora, Colorado, remain at large.

The defendants installed the skimmers at gas station pumps in Ohio and several other states between August 2014 and July 2017, according to the release.

They then re-encoded the stolen data to create fake cards they used to buy gift cards and merchandise, among other things.

Some of the defendants distracted gas station attendants while others installed the devices.

“This group stole credit card information from thousands of people all over Northeast Ohio just looking to fill up their gas tanks and continue on their way,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman. “Instead, these victims had their personal information taken and used to make fraudulent credit cards, which this group in turn used to steal merchandise.