Nacogdoches police arrest ends with guilty plea for card skimming

BEAUMONT, Texas (KTRE) - A Nacogdoches Police Department arrest in 2017 resulted in a guilty plea in federal court Wednesday.

Orlando Enrique Quesada-Oliva, 25, of Groves, pleaded guilty on Feb. 10 to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

According to information presented in court, on Jan. 27, 2017, Nacogdoches Police conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle the three men were in and discovered a discarded credit card on the ground. Inside the vehicle police found a notepad with gas stations listed in Texas, Tennessee, and Alabama. Police also found a card skimmer, an encoder, a key used to open gas pumps and credit cards located in hidden compartments within the vehicle. The search also produced numerous cell phones, a laptop computer and tape used as a security seal/tamper indicator for gas station fuel pumps and credit card information for a total of nine people.

Oliva was indicted on Oct. 8, 2020. He was the last of three defendants to be sentenced to 30 months on the same counts.

“Typically, a skimmer, such as the one found in this case, is placed inside a gas pump and used by criminals to collect credit card information from victims using the pump,” said U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston. “The intended gas purchase will proceed without interruption of any kind or any notification to the victim or third party,” Featherston added. “A single gas station skimmer is capable of storing credit card information for hundreds of victims.”

This case was investigated by the Nacogdoches Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Tommy Coleman.

Copyright 2022 KLTV. All rights reserved.