Miami-Dade Thug Gets 61 Months for ID Theft of 8,600 Patients

Miami-Dade County resident Noel Barrientos was slammed with a 61-month sentence for masterminding an identity theft scheme that involved over 8,600 patients’ identities. The grim details of his crime were unveiled by United States Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer, IRS Special Agent Kelly R. Jackson, and USSS Agent Paula Reid.

Barrientos’s downfall began with a search warrant at his residence for suspected drug activity. What police found instead was a treasure trove of credit/debit cards under various names, including those of individuals not associated with Barrientos or his home. Three of these cards were found on Barrientos himself.

Further investigation led to the discovery of a computer containing the personal details of 8,678 patients. The data originated from a doctor’s office in South Miami, where Gillian Armstrong had access and sold the information to Barrientos. Armstrong then passed the names along for fraudulent income tax returns. Law enforcement traced these returns back to Barrientos’s residence.

Armstrong, who pled guilty to similar charges, was sentenced to 36 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Barrientos’s sentence, handed down by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke C. Watson, underscores the severity of the identity theft crime he committed.

U.S. Attorney Ferrer praised the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and USSS, while the press release can be found on the DOJ’s website at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. For related court documents and information, visit http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.