The Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Department says a pair of illegal immigrants from Cuba who entered the United States from Mexico have been charged with a combined total of 126 crimes. Investigators say the man and woman used numerous stolen debit and gift cards to purchase $1,086.00 worth of diesel fuel.
According to Sheriff Sam Craft, Yunior Marin Castaneda, 32, and Elenis Fernandez Rodriguez, 35, both of whom had been staying in Port Arthur, are each charged with thirty-two counts of Monetary Instrument Abuse, Thirty counts of Identity Theft, and one count of Criminal Conspiracy. Bond was set at $120,000.00 on each, and both remain behind bars. Craft noted that Castaneda is also wanted in Harris County, Texas on a charge of Credit Card Fraud.
Craft said an investigation was launched on May 11th after a bank in Vernon Parish reported that several debit cards had been compromised, and each occurrence happened at one particular convenience store. However, Craft said deputies could not locate any kind of “skimming device”, which is used by criminals to capture credit or debit card information.
Craft said the investigation picked back up on May 24th when an employee of the store reported a suspicious transaction in which a Hispanic male used six different credit cards to purchase a total of $656.00 worth of diesel fuel. The following day, on May 25th, Craft said store employees reported that the same Hispanic male returned and pumped $430.00 worth of diesel fuel using approximately thirty different gift cards, which were recovered from a trash can by the fuel pumps.
Craft said deputies arrived to find the male and female had a metal fuel tank equipped with a fuel pump in the bed of the truck they were driving, and all of the diesel was being pumped into it.
According to Craft, the United States Secret Service has stepped in to assist with the investigation.
Meanwhile, Craft said with assistance from translators from nearby Fort Polk, the pair said that they entered the United States from Mexico and into Arizona, and they were carrying fraudulent driver’s licenses and social security cards. Craft said the two also told them that Border Patrol provided them with a court date to appear for a citizenship hearing and they were then released.\Craft also said that Immigration & Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE, were notified of the pair, but ICE has not placed a detainer on them.
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