PENSACOLA — A federal grand jury has indicted a 33-year-old New York man on five counts tied to a stolen identity and access device fraud ring that reached into Northwest Florida, U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin announced.
Dustin Lemmon Carpio, of New York, New York, faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, use of a counterfeit access device, possession of 15 or more counterfeit and unauthorized access devices, use of a false passport and aggravated identity theft. The conspiracy count alone carries up to 20 years in federal prison.
Carpio appeared for arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hope T. Cannon in Pensacola. His jury trial is scheduled for May 18 before U.S. District Court Judge T. Kent Wetherell II.
The counterfeit access device, unauthorized access device and false passport counts each carry up to 10 years’ imprisonment. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory two years consecutive to any other sentence — meaning it would be stacked on top of whatever prison time a conviction on the remaining counts produces.
The U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. The involvement of the State Department’s security arm signals the fraud ring’s use of fraudulent passport documents, a federal crime that elevates the case beyond a routine financial fraud prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia H. Forbes is prosecuting.
An indictment is an allegation by a grand jury and is not evidence of guilt. Carpio is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Carpio’s trial before Judge Wetherell is set for May 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Pensacola.