Trial dates set for Florida men accused in West Texas ATM 'jackpotting' thefts

Three Miami men accused of hacking into ATMs in Hereford and Lubbock since at least June are set to go to trial after appearing last week in federal court.

Carlos Herrera-Ruiz, 34, Abel Valdes, 38 and Yordanesz Sanchez, 41, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge D. Gordon Bryant on Monday and pleaded not guilty to the federal charges filed against them by indictment on Aug. 24.

All three men are accused of a federal count of use of an unauthorized access device and entered their pleas of not guilty. Valdes and Yordanesz, who jail records state are Cuban nationals, entered their pleas via a Spanish language interpreter, court records show.

Bryant set a trial date of Oct. 2 for all three defendants.

The three men have been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since their Aug. 3 arrests at the Red Roof Inn in the 6600 block of I-27. Jail records state they have addresses in Miami.

The men are accused of "jackpotting" free standing ATMs at a grocery store in Herford and a Lubbock convenience store.

ATM jackpotting, as described by the U.S. Secret Service, falls under the umbrella of an unlimited ATM cash-out attack. Jackpotting thieves typically use computers they plug into free standing ATMs to install malicious software on the machines and force them to dispense cash on demand.

The crime was made public in the U.S. in 2018 when Secret Service officials issued warnings to financial institutions of a planned jackpotting attack.

The charges against Herrera-Ruiz, Valdes and Yordanesz stem from a Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center investigation aided by the Lubbock Police Department.

Court documents indicate the men first attacked an ATM at a convenience store in West Lubbock.

An employee for the ATM called police on June 30 after he discovered money from the machine was missing and unaccounted for.

The employee told police the ATM was filled three days before. However, two days later, the machine was being serviced for a disabled pin pad. After the machine was repaired, the employee reviewed recent transactions on the machine and discovered there was money missing that wasn't recorded.

Footage from the convenience store's security cameras captured two thieves approaching the machine and taking money from it without any force.

One of the thieves could be seen signaling his partner when an employee or customer would approach the part of the store where they were and the men would move to another part of the store only to return when the ATM area was clear of other people.

At one point in the video one of the thieves handed some of the money to the other.

A probable cause affidavit filed in the case indicated investigators believe the men used a Raspberry Pi, a micro computer that's about the size of a paperback book, to plug into the ATM machines and overcome their security protocols and gain access to the cash drawer.

The thieves stole more than $5,700 from the ATM, according to court documents.

Herrera-Ruiz, Valdes and Yordanesz were identified as the thieves in the video after an agent with the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center informed Lubbock police on Aug. 3 that a black Honda Civic with Florida license plates used by thieves in a jackpotting case at a supermarket Hereford was photographed by the License Plate Reader System at the Red Roof Inn in the 6600 block of I-27.

The vehicle's plates were also scanned at a Motel 6 a day after the convenience store ATM hack.

One of the thieves captured on video by security cameras from the supermarket also appeared to be wearing the same clothing and resembled one of the thieves in the convenience store jackpotting hack, court documents state.

Investigators believed the men sent the stolen money through several Western Union offices inside supermarkets in Lubbock and Amarillo.

Investigators obtained a search warrant for the Red Roof Inn room that Herrera-Ruiz was renting.

A search of the room yielded evidence including dozens of computer parts, a computer in the form of a USB stick, credit card swipe readers, a police scanner and more than a dozen debit cards, according to court documents.

Investigators also found two Raspberry Pi devices in the hotel room.

The men also face state charges of engaging in organized criminal activity and unlawful interception, use, or disclosure of wire, oral or electronic communications.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Trial dates set for men accused in West Texas ATM 'jackpotting' thefts