The leader of a credit card fraud ring who placed a skimmer device at a La Jolla service station that read customers’ credit cards has been sentenced to 51 months in federal prison.
Danny Stephen Wray, 29, was ordered to pay $76,489 back to businesses by U.S. District Court Judge John Houston in San Diego in June.
Wray installed a credit card skimmer at a Shell service station in La Jolla in 2017 which read the customer names, account numbers, and personal identification numbers from credit and debit cards, according to court records. He was able to access the cards of other people. Wray and another man used a counterfeit access device at a coin shop to purchase $5,813.86 worth of gold and silver, according to court records. Wray used cards belonging to someone else, who reported to his bank that his credit card had been hacked.
Other victims were Costco, Smart & Final grocery store, and a federal credit union. Court records say the group used counterfeit credit cards to buy 35 Apple iPads, 11 bottles of Dom Perigean, a 65-inch Samsung television, two luxury wristwatches, multiple Xbox and PS4 video game systems. They also purchased large quantities of Red Bull and liquor.
A co-defendant, Chantal Jovanna Twight, 27, of San Diego, will be sentenced July 9. She remains free on $5,000 bond. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use an unauthorized device.
Wray was arrested in Arizona in November of 2017, and extradited here. Way pleaded guilty to conspiracy to using an unauthorized device that affected interstate commerce and he could have received a 20-year sentence. His attorney argued his use of methamphetamine affected his judgment and asked for a lesser sentence.
Wray sold the merchandise he collected from the unauthorized credit cards. He has a prior record of possession of 269 counterfeit credit cards in 2015 and use of stolen credit cards in 2013.
“To anyone who considers credit card fraud a quick and easy payday: this office will investigate and prosecute you, and you will feel the consequences,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman.
A co-defendant, Abilene Velazquez-Sedano, 29, formerly of Chula Vista, was sentenced to 71 days in jail and she was ordered released. She was ordered to pay $2,231in restitution to Costco. She pleaded guilty to using a counterfeit access device.
A fourth co-defendant, Jean Louis Contreras, age unknown, remains a fugitive and a warrant for his arrest has been issued.