BOISE - Alejandro Hidalgo, 26, Dilcia Martinez-Marquez, 25, Enrique Matos-Herrera, 29, Luis Mejias-Fiz, 25, and Jose Salazar-Quintana, 29, of Amarillo, Texas, and Eslay Monzon, 42, of Homestead, Florida, were indicted by a federal grand jury on December 8, 2015, for their participation in a pre-paid debit card retail fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Hidalgo, Matos-Herrera, Mejias-Fiz, Monzon, and Salazar-Quintana are each charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Martinez-Marquez is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. The Defendants were arraigned on December 10, 2015, and trial has been set for February 2, 2016, before Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge.
The Indictment charges the defendants with devising a scheme to defraud retail stores in Idaho by materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises. The indictment alleges that the defendants traveled to Idaho for the purpose of executing their scheme, rented hotel rooms, and traveled to numerous retail stores in the Boise area on October 14 and 15, 2015. Additionally, the indictment alleges that the defendants made purchases of merchandise and gift cards using pre-paid debit cards that they had re-encoded with unauthorized debit card account numbers belonging to unknowing card holders.
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud are punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory two years in prison, to be served consecutively to the sentence imposed for the underlying felony.
The case was investigated by the Meridian Police Department and the United States Secret Service.
An indictment is a means of charging a person with criminal activity. It is not evidence. The person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.