Two Venezuelan men have been sentenced to federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank larceny after being busted trying to rob an ATM in St. Joseph. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Grand Rapids tells us 32-year-old Christian Eduardo Zerpa-Ruiz and 24-year-old Ragde Hussein Pinto-Coronado are members of a Venezuelan crime syndicate who, in a hacking scheme known as “jackpotting,” robbed bank and credit union ATMs by infecting their hard drives with malware that allowed them to take command and dispense all the cash. The U.S. Attorney says the two successfully jackpotted four ATMs in Indiana, Kentucky, and Wisconsin, stealing approximately $125,000 in cash. They were arrested in March while attempting to jackpot an ATM in St. Joseph Township that contained more than $43,000. Zerpa-Ruiz was sentenced to 51 months in prison, while Pinto-Coronado was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Both have been ordered to pay restitution.
