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Dragush Hornea, a Romanian national, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and one year of supervised release, according to an announcement from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts on Monday, Feb. 14.
He will be subject to deportation proceedings after he completes his sentence, the US Attorney's Office said.
Hornea pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity and one count of conspiracy to use counterfeit access devices on Oct. 5, 2021, according to the announcement.
Hornea was also ordered to pay $90,452 in restitution, the report said.
He was extradited from Germany to Massachusetts in April after he was indicted in May last year.
According to the announcement, Hornea was a member of the "Hornea Crew," which was led by co-conspirators Constantin Denis Hornea and Ludemis Hornea.
The group was involved in a scheme to steal debit card numbers and PINs from bank customers in Massachusetts, Connecticut, South Carolina, Georgia, and other locations over the course of 18 months, the US Attorney's Office said.
They would install skimming devices in various locations, and use the stolen information to clone the victims' debit cards and make withdrawals from their bank accounts, the report said.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses were reported, the US Attorney's Office said.
All 15 suspects indicted in the case pleaded guilty, according to the announcement.
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