Riverside Man Accused Of Stealing IDs Of Michaels' Shoppers

RIVERSIDE, CA — A former Riverside man, who's accused of victimizing dozens of people across multiple states in an identity theft scam that involved stealing shoppers' debit and credit card information using wireless devices planted at checkout counters in Michaels' craft stores, pleaded not guilty Thursday to felony charges.

Jose "Tito" Salazar, 44, was captured in Mexico City in September and was returned to the United States earlier this month to answer charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Salazar was indicted in 2015 and had been a fugitive until his apprehension by authorities in Mexico.

The case is being prosecuted in U.S. District Court in Camden, New Jersey, and Salazar is being held without bail at a federal detention center in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Salazar's two co-defendants, Angel Angulo and Crystal Banuelos, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges previously. Banuelos was sentenced to five years probation in 2015, while Angulo received a three-year prison sentence in 2017, prosecutors said.

According to court papers, the scam entailed replacing point-of-sale terminals at 80 Michaels stores in 19 states. The counterfeit POS devices with wireless transmission capability were used to procure roughly 94,000 debit and credit card account numbers between February and April 2011, prosecutors say.

The cards' pass codes were also stolen, and the conspirators were able to manufacture fake cards, which were then used to withdraw funds from ATMs at a variety of banks, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The monetary losses were not specified.

If convicted, Salazar could face up to 32 years in federal prison, as well as a $1 million fine, according to prosecutors.