BOISE, Idaho — In a news release from the United States Attorney's Office, District of Idaho it was reported that a Florida man has been sentenced to federal prison.
Adrian Acosta Alonso, 34, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for fraud charges and failing to appear in court.
According to the news release, which cites court documents and statements from December 2018, Alonso attempted to open a gas pump with a crowbar at a gas station in Meridian. He and his accomplices intended to place a skimming device inside the gas pump.
A skimming device is a piece of technology that scammers attach to card readers and can record and store bank card information.
The news release said, Alonso was arrested in a nearby van, where Meridian Police found skimming device-making equipment, skimming devices themselves, a card reader/encoder and security seals for gas pumps.
Upon further investigation, officers located 55 blank bank cards, 15 counterfeit bank cards embossed in the names of Alonso and his accomplices, per the news release. There were also spreadsheets containing over 400 bank card numbers along with associated names, PINs and expiration dates.
In February 2019, Alonso and his accomplices were federally charged in Idaho with access device fraud charges, the news release said. Alonso was released from custody dependent on his appearance in court.
According to the news Attorney's Office, by August of 2019, Alonso pleaded guilty and the court sentencing was scheduled for November of 2019. However, when the date came, Alonso failed to appear for sentencing and instead fled to Cuba, where Alonso shares citizenship.
After that, in July of 2022, Alonso was charged with failing to appear at his sentencing, the news release said. Alonso was arrested on both cases when he arrived back in the United States in December of 2022.
According to the news release, Alonso was sentenced to 12 months for access device fraud charges. He was sentenced to serve another year for failing to appear at his sentencing in 2019.
As for his accomplice, Yatsel Aleman Santana, 34, also from Florida, Santana was sentenced to 30 months in prison for the same access device charge, according to the news release.
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