Member of cybercrime ring sentenced to more than 12 years in prison
WASHINGTON — A New Jersey man who pleaded guilty to racketeering for his involvement in a sophisticated cybercrime organization was sentenced Thursday to 12 ½ years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $50 million in restitution.
Jermaine Smith, 34, of East Orange, New Jersey, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon. Smith pleaded guilty in October 2014 to one count of participating in a racketeer influenced corrupt organization. The charge stems from a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Secret Service.
In pleading guilty, Smith admitted that in May 2009 he became associated with the Carder.su organization, a criminal enterprise whose members trafficked in compromised credit card account data, counterfeit identities, and committed money laundering, narcotics trafficking, and various types of computer crime.
"Criminal cyber organizations like Carder.su threaten not just U.S. citizens but people in every corner of the globe," said U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell. "Managers in Russia seamlessly ran their criminal enterprise online using, among others, a counterfeit card vendor from New Jersey, with whom they communicated through screen name aliases. The success in his case was achieved through equally seamless cooperation with our foreign law enforcement partners and effective use of the RICO statute. As more countries work with us to fight these organizations, we will continue to evolve to meet this growing threat."
Smith served as a vendor on the organization's websites. Using the online monikers "SirCharlie57" and "Fairbusinessman," Smith sold counterfeit credit cards to an undercover special agent. The counterfeit credit cards were successfully processed for fingerprints, identifying Smith as the true user of the online screennames. In addition to the sale of counterfeit credit cards, Smith admitted he possessed over 2,150 stolen credit and debit card account numbers.
"Mr. Smith's crimes were very serious and justify a lengthy prison sentence," said Nevada U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden. "He admitted that he caused a loss of seven to $20 million involving over 250 victims, and that he obstructed justice when he fled to Jamaica while released on bond awaiting trial."
"As this sentence demonstrates, cyber-criminals who purposely harm innocent Americans and compromise our financial system and global commerce will be aggressively pursued, investigated and prosecuted," said Michael Harris, assistant special agent in charge for HSI Las Vegas. "These criminals may believe they can escape detection by fleeing the country and hiding behind their computer screens, but as this case shows, cyberspace is not a refuge from justice."
A total of 56 individuals were charged as part of Operation Open Market in four separate indictments. To date, 26 individuals have been convicted and the rest are either fugitives or are pending trial. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jonathan Ophardt of the Criminal Division's Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly M. Frayn and Andrew W. Duncan of the District of Nevada.
This prosecution is part of the President's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys' Offices and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud.
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