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A Californian who pleaded guilty to providing information on stolen bank accounts to Russian nationals was sentenced Wednesday to six months in prison and six months of house arrest, the longest prison sentence so far resulting from the investigation of the special advocate Robert Mueller.
Richard Pinedo, who pleaded guilty in February to identity fraud, said in court that he had not figured out what type of clientele he was dealing with and that his "quiet and anonymous life "had been upset by the case. The Russians who bought the information from Mr. Pinedo have been accused of making great efforts to interfere in the 2016 election at the center of Mr. Mueller's investigation.
According to prosecutors, from 2014 to December 2017, Mr. Pinedo sold to anonymous clients hundreds of real-life bank account numbers to help them bypass
Pay Pal
security protocols.
"I was convinced that the services I was proposing were not harming anyone," said Pinedo, 28, while reading a statement quickly. Since the case was made public, he said, he has received hate messages from strangers, some calling him a traitor in his country and others claiming that Russia would be bored for cooperating with the FBI.
Mr. Pinedo, who lives with his family in Santa Paula, California, and was about to complete an associate's degree in computer science, was one of the most unlikely defendants to have been involved in M's investigation. Mueller. He earned money selling items on
eBay
,
and a dispute with PayPal on his account led him to offer services to help people circumvent the security measures of the payment company, according to court documents.
Among the users of his services were Russian nationals who published controversial messages in social media, invented fake characters and organized rallies with the strategic goal of sowing discord in US politics in 2016, prosecutors said.
At Pinedo's sentencing hearing on Wednesday, one of Mueller's attorneys, Rush Atkinson, said the defendant had provided "substantial" cooperation going beyond what other defendants of this type had traditionally provided. He provided "pretty close to the unvarnished truth" in his first interview, Atkinson said.
Mr. Pinedo also disclosed information about "upstream" sellers who had provided him with fraudulent bank account information, which suggests that other prosecutors may in the future take legal action against them. people.
"This is a very, very difficult case," said Judge Dabney Friedrich, US District Judge, in announcing her conviction. "You have committed a major crime," she said, adding that she thought he "felt real remorse" and deserved credit for her unwavering cooperation.
According to the sentencing guidelines, Mr. Pinedo was sentenced to a term of imprisonment ranging from 12 to 18 months, according to documents filed by the court.
Mueller's team said it did not recommend a particular sentence, but noted that Mr. Pinedo had committed "large-scale identity fraud … with real damage to dozens of victims." innocent. "
Prosecutors added in an application filed in court that Mr. Pinedo also "saved the government considerable time and resources in the investigation" by promptly accepting responsibility and contributing to the investigation.
Mr. Pinedo's lawyer emphasized his client's cooperation with Mr. Mueller's team and said that the case may have been dealt with locally rather than in federal court without the identity and the objectives of Mr. Pinedo's customers.
"Never in his wildest dreams, he could have predicted that providing information on bank accounts to set up PayPal accounts could be used to interfere with a presidential election," said the spokesman. lawyer Jeremy Lessem in court documents.
Prosecutors said Pinedo often created accounts using the stolen identities of US citizens. According to a February indictment, the Russians used bank account numbers to evade PayPal's security measures.
Pinedo has collected between $ 40,000 and $ 95,000 from the sale of stolen information, prosecutors said.
The conviction occurred when Mr. Mueller's investigation shows signs of an early conclusion. Prosecutors said last month they were ready for the court to condemn Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, as a sign that they no longer need his cooperation in the investigation. .
A member of Mueller's team returned in August to his position at the Justice Department and another prosecutor is also expected to return soon, according to a spokesman for Mueller.
Several other defendants in Mueller's investigation have been sentenced in recent months, including former Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, who was sentenced to 14 days in jail for lying to the FBI over his contacts. with a Russian intermediary.
Former Trump campaign president Paul Manafort and his former partner Richard Gates both pleaded guilty to much longer prison sentences. Both co-operate with prosecutors and have not yet been sentenced.
Write to Aruna Viswanatha at [email protected]
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