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BEAUMONT — A Cuban national living in Groves was sentenced this week to almost three years as part of a federal case dating back more than five years.

U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston said Orlando Enrique Quesada-Oliva, 25, pleaded guilty Feb. 10 to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft.

U.S. District Judge Michael Truncale sentenced Quesada-Oliva Wednesday to 30 months in federal prison.

According to information presented in court, on Jan. 27, 2017, an officer with the Nacogdoches Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Victor Entenza, 30, and occupied by Ricardo Chavez-Travieso, 29, and Oliva, all Cuban nationals.

After the officer discovered a discarded credit card on the ground near where the driver had been, a search of the vehicle was conducted. A notepad was found that listed various gas stations in Texas, Tennessee and Alabama.

The search also produced numerous cell phones, a laptop computer and tape used as a security seal/tamper indicator for gas station fuel pumps.

The officer also located a card skimmer, an encoder, a key used to open gas pumps and credit cards located in hidden compartments within the vehicle. Credit card information for nine individuals other than the occupants of the vehicle was found either on the computer or in the vehicle.

Oliva was indicted Oct. 8, 2020. He is the last of the three defendants to be sentenced.

Entenza and Travieso were both previously sentenced to 30 months on the same counts.

“Typically, a skimmer, such as the one found in this case, is placed inside a gas pump and used by criminals to collect credit card information from victims using the pump,” Featherston said.

“The intended gas purchase will proceed without interruption of any kind or any notification to the victim or third party. A single gas station skimmer is capable of storing credit card information for hundreds of victims.”