Bronson Announces Arrests Of Fuel Theft Ring Members
For Information, Contact:
Major Bob Johnson
(850) 245-1300
Bob.Johnson@freshfromflorida.com
Terence McElroy
(850) 488-3022
July 30, 2008
TALLAHASSEE – Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson today announced the arrests of four Central Florida men for fraudulently purchasing fuel with counterfeit credit cards.
Arrested were:
- Jorge O. Garcia Llanes, 35, of Orlando on charges of unlawful conveyance of fuel.
- Esteban Fuentes Vazquez, 56, of Orlando on a charge of unlawful conveyance of fuel and trafficking in counterfeit credit cards.
- Michael Cabrera, 32, of Orlando on charges of unlawful conveyance of fuel.
- Robin Corroles-Castro, 32, of Orlando for unlawful conveyance of fuel and trafficking in counterfeit credit cards.
Additional charges are pending after review by the State Attorneys Office in Polk County. The defendants were arrested and booked into the Polk County jail.
The arrests follow information received from Murphy USA Petroleum Investigations Unit regarding fraudulent transactions being made in the purchase of fuel. According to Murphy representatives, the company had losses totaling more than $25,000 from its Polk County gas station in Haines City. The case was turned over to the department's Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement for investigation.
A special operation was set up to run for several days to identify and apprehend persons responsible for the thefts and included agents with the Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement, Haines City Police Department and Murphy USA.
The four arrests that occurred were made on Monday July 28, 2008, after investigators observed the suspects pumping fuel into unapproved-concealed fuel tanks in pickup trucks. According to investigators, the suspects had used compromised credit card information that had been reprogrammed onto fictitious credit cards to purchase the fuel.
Bronson credited the Haines City Police Department for its assistance in the investigation.
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