Pedro Garcia-Morales, Unauthorized Access Devices, Texas 2013

McALLEN, Texas – Pedro Garcia-Morales, a legal permanent resident from Cuba living in Donna, has been found guilty of possession of more than 15 unauthorized access devices with intent to defraud, according to a recent verdict handed down by a McAllen federal jury.

According to court records, the 41-year-old defendant knowingly possessed more than 500 account numbers linked to credit and debit cards belonging to people from all over the United States.

During a search warrant executed at Garcia-Morales’ home on January 11, 2013, agents discovered two laptops, two flash drives, a credit card encoder, and 49 gift/prepaid cards that had been encoded with stolen/unauthorized debit or credit card account numbers.

The government proved that Garcia-Morales knew the cards were to be used to make fraudulent purchases.

Witnesses testified that over a two-year period, Garcia-Morales used international hacking websites to purchase hundreds of account numbers.

He then wired money internationally to hackers in China, Vietnam, Romania, and the Ukraine.

Encoding software on his laptops and flash drives was used to transfer the purchased account numbers onto the magnetic strips of gift/prepaid cards.

The cards could then be used at retail stores to make seemingly legitimate purchases, but in reality, the transactions unlawfully charged to others’ credit and debit card accounts.

Garcia-Morales is set to face sentencing on July 30, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez, where he faces up to 10 years in prison and a possible $250,000 fine.

He has been in custody since his arrest and will remain pending the sentencing hearing.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kristen Rees and Patricia Rigney, with the U.S. Secret Service and the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office conducting the investigation.

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