Twin brothers from Miami have been sentenced to a 52-month prison term and will be required to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution. The pair pled guilty to using identity theft to buy Apple devices and charging them to AT&T customer accounts. The two men were arrested in March 2021.
The brothers, Luis Hernandez Socarras and Jorge Hernandez Socarras, played the nationwide scam from March 2019 to January 2020, according to a Justice.gov report. During that time, the pair fraudulently accessed approximately 2,366 AT&T customers’ mobile accounts, using them to buy millions of dollars worth of iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches.
The men would travel to electronics stores across 26 States in order to pick up the fraudulently ordered devices. They would then return to Miami to fence the devices.
The court estimates that the total value was $2,155,483.78. During the FBI’s investigation, authorities recovered one stash hidden in a vehicle. Court filings indicated that the stash included “29 iPhones, 11 Pro Max cell phones, six Apple iPad Pro tablets, three Apple Watches, a firearm, other electronic devices, and a passport.”
In addition to the 52-month sentence, the pair are also required to pay $360,937 in restitution.
