William Garcia, Credit Card Fraud, Florida 2014

A former Sweetwater Police Detective has been convicted of credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft in a case that has left many in the community stunned.

William Garcia, 39, was found guilty of twelve counts, including one count of conspiring to produce, use, or traffic in one or more counterfeit access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371; one count of use of a counterfeit access device, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(1); and ten counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1).

The case against Garcia began to unravel in 2010 when a confidential source, a convicted felon, provided Garcia and another former South Miami Detective, Richard Munoz, with counterfeit credit cards. The source, Munoz, and others testified about Garcia’s possession and use of those cards during shopping trips to Miami-Dade County shopping malls in 2010 and early 2011.

During a meeting in late December 2010, Garcia was recorded providing his own personal credit card for use in stealing account numbers and manufacturing counterfeit cards. Additional evidence at trial showed that Garcia was caught on videotape bringing eight counterfeit credit cards to the residence of the confidential source.

Garcia’s presence during the transactions was further documented through use of phone records, placing Garcia’s cellular telephone in the area of each transaction at the time it occurred. After the verdict, U.S. District Court Judge Federico Moreno remanded Garcia pending sentencing on June 26, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. in Miami.

Munoz, who himself pleaded guilty on March 13, 2014, to related fraud charges, is presently set for sentencing in front of Judge Moreno on May 9, 2014. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI Miami Area Corruption Task Force, the FBI Miami Cyber Task Force, and the Sweetwater Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Lacosta and Sarah Schall.

Garcia faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years imprisonment and a maximum sentence of thirty-five years in prison. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.

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