Miami Men Jailed for Iowa Credit Card Scam

Maiko Aragon, 24, of Miami, Florida, is headed to federal prison for 45 months after pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to use counterfeit credit cards. His accomplice, David Viamontes-Pando, 23, also from Miami, received a 12-month sentence on the same charges. The pair ran a fraud spree across Iowa, exploiting stolen financial data to fuel a crime wave in Cedar Rapids and surrounding areas.

Their scheme unfolded in January 2016, when Aragon, Viamontes-Pando, and a third defendant, Henry Herrera, traveled repeatedly to Iowa to make fraudulent purchases using stolen credit card information. Stores in the Cedar Rapids metro became their hunting grounds. But the operation went beyond simple card cloning — Aragon installed a skimming device on a gas pump, harvesting card data straight from unsuspecting consumers at the fuel station.

Judging the case in Cedar Rapids, U.S. District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand handed down stiff penalties. Aragon must now pay $19,422.13 in restitution and serve two years of supervised release after prison. Viamontes-Pando faces one year of supervised release and owes $3,654.10 to victims. There is no parole in the federal system, and Judge Strand made clear the message: financial fraud erodes trust in the entire system.

Judge Strand emphasized that Aragon’s role as ringleader factored into his longer sentence. The court found he directed operations and escalated the criminal enterprise by planting the skimmer. The judge condemned the greed driving the scam, stating it exploited everyday transactions to fund illicit gains — a betrayal of public confidence in banking security.

Herrera, the third man in the trio, has also pleaded guilty to the same charges and awaits sentencing on February 22, 2017. Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa built the case with evidence from Homeland Security Investigations and the Marion Police Department, tracking the Florida crew’s movements and digital footprints.

The case, docketed as 16-CR-24, remains open as authorities continue monitoring organized fraud rings targeting Midwestern states. For updates, court records are accessible via the Northern District of Iowa’s electronic filing system. Follow @USAO_NDIA for ongoing coverage of federal prosecutions in the region.

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