Diario Horizonte - Spanish Woman Sentenced to Federal Prison for Fraudulent Wal-Mart Shopping Card Scheme

DENVER�Jerryca P. Chavez (aka Jerryca Baros and Misty Hetzel), age 26, of Englewood and Sheridan, Colorado, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello to serve 60 months in federal prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, United States Attorney John Walsh, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Daniel Donahue, and FBI Special Agent in Charge James Davis announced. Judge Arguello also ordered Chavez to pay restitution totaling $194,879.69 to Walmart and 19 other financial institutions, all of which were the victims of the wire fraud crime. Chavez, who appeared at the sentencing free on bond, was ordered to report to a Bureau of Prisons facility within 15 days of designation.

Jerryca P. Chavez was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on January 27, 2010. She pled guilty before Judge Arguello on April 22, 2010. Chavez was sentenced today, September 7, 2010. According to the indictment and subsequent plea agreement, between October 2004 and September 2007, Chavez knowingly devised a scheme to defraud and obtain money and property from various Wal-Mart stores and credit card companies by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses.

During the time period in question, Chavez worked at a Greenwood Village business. While working at that business she had access to customers� credit card information, which she fraudulently obtained. She also obtained others credit card information through other unknown means. As part of the scheme, Chavez obtained numerous Wal-Mart shopping cards. She would then call both in and out of state Wal-Mart stores. She would provide a compelling story to the Wal-Mart employee stating she was in the military in a war zone and needed the gift card loaded to feed her children. She would often use the manager�s name at Wal-Mart to convince the employee to fund a Wal-Mart shopping card over the phone with a credit card, which is contrary to standard practice.

Chavez used the credit card numbers during the scheme without cardholders� authorization to fund Wal-Mart shopping cards by providing the credit card number to a Wal-Mart employee during the conversation. The defendant would request the shopping card be funded using an unauthorized credit card number in varying amounts between $350 and $800. Chavez would then use the Wal-Mart shopping cards, funded with the fraudulently obtained credit card numbers, in various Wal-Mart stores throughout the greater Metro Denver area to purchase ...

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