A Romanian man who admitted stealing information from ATM cards in Arlington in what police describe as a sophisticated international organized crime ring was sentenced Thursday to three-and-a-half years in prison.
Investigators said Marius Milescu, 24, is from Romania and crossed into the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2011.
"It's a huge deal,” said Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Ty Stimpson. “What took place here got the ball rolling on a bigger investigation that has gone on across the country from coast to coast."
The Romanian ring has been active all over Texas and in 20 other states – even Hawaii, police said.
"I hate to admit it, but it was almost genius,” Stimpson said.
The genius, he said, was in the high-quality, custom-made equipment the ring used. It's a gadget that literally fits over the ATM's card reader that copies cards’ electronic fingerprint and a separate tiny camera that records PINs as customers enter them.
With the information, criminals can clone the cards and with the PINs, access people’s accounts and withdraw cash.
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"This is by far the most sophisticated camera-skimming device that I've ever seen,” Stimpson said. “The quality of the picture was great. It was almost like it was a device that was hand-made by an MIT grad."
At the sentencing hearing, Miclescu's attorney pushed for probation, arguing he had a clean criminal record and his crime was non-violent.
Prosecutors asked for prison time.
Miclescu faced up to 20 years behind bars.
He showed little emotion as Tarrant County District Judge George Gallagher sentenced him to 42 months in prison, with credit for the 15 months he has already served in jail.
Miclescu likely faces deportation after his prison sentence.
