Feds crack cell phone cloning ring
Federal authorities have charged nine people who worked at Sprint stores in the Bronx, New Jersey, and Florida in a case of illegal cell phone cloning.
Federal prosecutors and the United State Secret Service said the nine defendants illegally accessed customer accounts 16,000 times during the first six months of the year to steal information about the accounts that was then used to make copies of the cell phones. The illegal cell phones were used to ring up more than $15 million in calls, federal authorities said.
The federal complaint and news release do not say which company the employees worked for but the company was identified in court as Sprint.
Among those charged was Johnny Santana, 29, of Yonkers, who worked at one of the Bronx stores. Other stores involved in the scam were in North Bergen, New Jersey, and Tampa,Florida, prosecutors said. The other eight defendants were Luis Abad, 24, of West New York, N.J.; Mathews Angel, 23, of West New York, N.J.; Luis Orriols, 22, of Jersey City, N.J.; Francis Lopez, 25, of Weehawken, N.J.; Pedro Rodriguez, 30, of the Bronx; Princetta Dorisma, 23, of Tampa, Fl.; Lesly Esquea, 27, also of Tampa; and Jacklin Volny, 36, of Riverview, Fl.
All nine defendants face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the top count: conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Advertisements
