The operator of a gift card cloning scheme targeting Walmart stories in Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties was sentenced to 2.75 years in jail and another 2.5 years of probation.
Yuniel Rodriguez-Leon pleaded guilty on Aug. 2 to one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices, a class 2 felony, and one count of illegally conducting an enterprise, a class 3 felony. He was sentenced on Sept. 17, according to a press release from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
The scheme involved a group of people taking unactivated Walmart gift cards from stores, cloning the numbers on the card, and then putting the cards back. Once the cards were purchased by consumers, the cards could be accessed and the money removed from them…