Venezuelan National Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison For Identity Theft Scheme

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A man was sentenced to four years in prison for using skimming devices and hidden cameras to steal ATM card information and PINs.

According to court documents Ricardo Gabriele-Plage, 39, traveled to the United States in 2017 to steal bank account information. Gabriele-Plage is a Venezuelan national.

Gabriele-Plage and his co-conspirators placed skimming devices in ATMs and installed covert cameras to record users' PINs at least five times. The suspects used the stolen information to create fake credit and debit cards, racking up charges.

On August 5, 2017, Gabriele-Plage and Luis Jose Ruiz Gainza were arrested in Sacramento County. Sheriff's deputies found a magnetic stripe reader and encoder, skimmers, covert cameras, and tools used to repair skimmers and install the devices in ATMs in their Rancho Cordova hotel room.

Ruiz Gainza was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in November 2019.