United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced yesterday that 13 Cuban nationals have been sentenced in federal court for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, after evidence was found during a traffic stop in South Carolina.
Evidence presented to the court showed that the investigation of this case began in June 2014, when two individuals were stopped by the South Carolina Highway Patrol on I-95 and found to be in possession of counterfeit credit cards.
Personal and financial information such as names, social security numbers, dates of birth, and bank account and credit card numbers (“victim track data”) was initially purchased from the dark web, investigators found. This information came directly from the Home Depot breach, which had been unreported at the time (July 2014).
This case was investigated by agents of the Columbia office of the United States Secret Service, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, and state and local law enforcement throughout the United States. Assistant United States Attorney William E. Day, II, of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case. United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis, of Columbia sentenced each of the 13 defendants between one to three years of court-ordered supervision to follow each of their prison terms. [Source: Fox Carolina]