Cuban Nationals Plead Guilty to Stolen Gift Card Fraud

In a federal courtroom in Benton, Illinois, the grift came to an end for Eriberto Ricardo Gomez, 42, and Yasmanis L. Oduardo Fonseco, 27—two Cuban nationals who pleaded guilty this morning to possession of stolen account numbers and aggravated identity theft. The charges stem from a traffic stop on I-70 in Madison County that exposed a brazen scheme involving re-encoded gift cards tied to Pennsylvania financial accounts.

On October 8, 2015, Caseyville Police pulled over the duo during a routine traffic stop. What they found in the vehicle raised immediate red flags: more than 100 gift cards, with 19 of them re-encoded with stolen account numbers. The magnetic strips had been tampered with, repurposed to siphon funds from unsuspecting customers of a Pennsylvania-based financial institution. The evidence pointed to a calculated, mobile operation crossing multiple state lines.

During their plea hearings, both Ricardo Gomez and Oduardo Fonseco admitted to using the manipulated gift cards to make fraudulent purchases at retail locations in Arkansas and Manchester, Missouri. The pair, currently residing in Houston, Texas, offered no defense against the charges, acknowledging their role in the financial deception. Their silence spoke volumes—no denials, no excuses, just guilty pleas.

Now, they face the full weight of federal sentencing. The charge of possession of 15 or more stolen account numbers carries up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. On top of that, the aggravated identity theft charge mandates a consecutive two-year sentence—no leniency, no overlap. The clock starts ticking when they’re sentenced on March 2, 2017.

The FBI’s Springfield Division, through its Fairview Heights Resident Agency, led the investigation, tracing the digital footprints of the stolen accounts and linking them to the pair. Local law enforcement from the Caseyville and Pontoon Beach Police Departments provided critical support on the ground, proving that even low-profile traffic stops can unravel interstate crime rings.

Assistant United States Attorney Scott A. Verseman is prosecuting the case, building a clean, hard-hitting record that left the defendants no room to maneuver. This isn’t just about gift cards—it’s about stolen identities, violated trust, and a reminder that federal prosecutors are closing in on financial predators, no matter where they come from or where they run to.