“Guilty and regretful,” is how Targino pleaded to Rose through a Portuguese interpreter.
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Targino and Diego Dacosta, 32, both have reached plea deals for three-year sentences, according to assistant U.S. attorney Dwight Keller. Dacosta will be sentenced Nov. 2.
Both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit identity theft, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud. The offenses took place on or before Dec. 1, 2017 until Jan. 25, 2018 in Ohio and other states.
The sentencing range for the defendants’ crimes goes from a mandatory minimum of two years up to 30 years and a $1 million fine. Targino’s non-binding, calculated sentencing range was estimated at 78 to 97 months.
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Targino said he had eight years of education in Brazil and was going to attend high school in the United States but that he only had two months in an English class. Targino’s attorney, Gary Crim, said Targino had no other criminal history in the United States.
Two more defendants — Ricardo Carlos De Andrade and Sandro Lopes Da Silva — have pending cases. An evidentiary hearing involving De Andrade scheduled for Monday was canceled to allow for plea negotiations, according to court documents. Rose has set up a briefing schedule related to Da Silva’s motion to suppress.
The United States Secret Service arrested the men in January and unsealed the case before the defendants’ initial court appearances.
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Two of the men admitted to being part of a counterfeit operation ranging from Florida to New York, Illinois and Ohio in which fraudulent American Express, Visa and Master Card credit cards were used to buy electronics such as iPhones, laptops, virtual reality glasses, electronic cigarettes and clothing, according to an affidavit written by Secret Service special agent Jennifer Tron.
The electronics were then shipped via FedEx to Florida to a specific address, Tron wrote. Secret Service officials also said three laptop computers, pinhole cameras and a magnetic stripe credit card encoder are indicative of “ATM skimming.”
During an earlier court hearing, Tron testified that she first heard about the case when a member of a local task force called to say members saw suspicious credit card activity at Miller Lane in Butler Twp. on Jan. 25, 2018.
RELATED: Some area hotels provided guest list information to task forces
Tron’s affidavit said an agent contacted her when a task force was conducting surveillance of a Nissan Armada with Florida plates in the Miller Lane area.
Targino was observed using one credit card to pay for $50 worth of gas and had another several in his possession at an ATM, according to the affidavit. A Chevy Tahoe drove to the same Valero gas station, and both vehicles drove to an Outback Steakhouse, according to the complaint.
The men were arrested by Butler Twp. police.
MORE: Read other stories from Mark Gokavi
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