Odessa, Texas — Six Cuban nationals, led by ringleader Livan Sanchez-Leyva, 38, were arrested this morning in a brazen credit card skimming operation that netted over $37,000 in illicit diesel sales. Federal and local authorities stormed multiple residences across Ector County, seizing evidence linking the group to a sprawling pump-skimming network targeting unsuspecting motorists.
The suspects — Juan Adelmo Bermudez, 46; Jorge Manuel Batista-Gonzalez, 37; Michel Sarmiento, 36; Andy Cruz-Leyva, 45; Sandra Alva Escobar-Carballosa, 31; and Livan Sanchez-Leyva, 38 — were charged with one count of access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. The indictment, returned January 25, 2017, and unsealed today, alleges the crew planted illegal skimming devices on gas station fuel pumps starting January 1, 2015.
Using the stolen credit card data, the defendants allegedly produced cloned cards to siphon hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel from local stations. The fuel was then resold on the black market, fueling a criminal enterprise built on the backs of everyday Texans. Investigators estimate the total financial loss at more than $37,000, though the full scope may not yet be known.
Sanchez-Leyva and his wife, Sandra Alva Escobar-Carballosa, are accused of directing the conspiracy, turning gas stations into cash machines through digital theft and fuel fraud. The scheme exploited gaps in pump security, allowing the crew to harvest personal identification numbers and card data with alarming ease.
If convicted, each defendant faces up to ten years in federal prison for access device fraud, plus a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence for aggravated identity theft. All six remain in federal custody awaiting detention hearings next week. No bond has been set.
The takedown was executed by the FBI’s Permian Basin Oilfield Theft Task Force, Texas Comptroller’s Office – Criminal Investigation Division, and Ector County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from HSI, ICE, U.S. Marshals, Texas DPS, Odessa PD, Midland County Sheriff, and Reeves County Sheriff. Assistant U.S. Attorney V. LaTawn Warsaw is prosecuting. An indictment is not evidence of guilt — the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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