A federal grand jury in Nebraska has indicted six individuals for their alleged involvement in a scheme to deploy malware and steal millions of dollars from ATMs across the United States, a crime known as “ATM jackpotting.” This brings the total number of people charged in connection with the conspiracy to 93.
The newly charged defendants—Wester Eduardo Dugarte Goicochea, Mauro Angel Briceno Caldera, Henry Rafael Gonzalez-Gutierrez, Giovanny Miguel Ocanto Yance, Jelfenson David Bolivar Diaz, and Arlinzon Jose Reyes Villegas—are Venezuelan nationals residing in the Houston area. The indictment includes five counts: conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank burglary and computer fraud, bank fraud, bank burglary, and damage to computers.
This latest indictment follows previous ones returned on December 9, 2025; October 21, 2025; and January 21, 2026. These earlier indictments collectively charged dozens of individuals with offenses including providing material support to terrorists, money laundering, various forms of fraud and burglary related to financial institutions and computers. Authorities allege that Tren de Aragua (TdA), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization originally formed as a prison gang in Venezuela during the mid-2000s, orchestrated these attacks. According to court documents cited by prosecutors:
“TdA is a violent transnational criminal organization that originated as a prison gang in Venezuela in the mid-2000s. TdA has expanded its criminal network throughout the Western Hemisphere and established a presence in the United States. TdA’s criminal activities range from drug trafficking and firearms trafficking, to commercial sex trafficking, kidnapping, robbery, theft, fraud, and extortion. TdA members also commit murder, assault, and other violent acts to advance the organization’s criminal activities. TdA has also developed an additional source of revenue stream through financial crimes that target financial institutions throughout the United States including using jackpotting to steal millions of dollars in cash.”
Investigators estimate losses exceeding $6 million for victim financial institutions nationwide from this series of ATM jackpotting incidents—with at least another $1.74 million attempted but not successfully stolen.
If convicted on all charges outlined in these indictments—including those related specifically to supporting terrorism or engaging in organized crime—the defendants face maximum sentences ranging from 20 years up to potentially more than three centuries behind bars.
The investigation is being led by FBI’s Omaha Field Office along with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Omaha. They have received assistance from numerous law enforcement agencies across multiple states—including local police departments; sheriff’s offices; U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Marshals Service; Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General; Financial Deposit Insurance Corporation—and others.
Prosecution is being handled by attorneys from the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section as well as local U.S. Attorney’s Offices across several districts nationwide. Additional support was provided by agencies such as Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV), which was initially created to combat MS-13 but now targets organizations like TdA.
According to officials: “This Operation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159… The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels… Through historic interagency collaboration… investigating and prosecuting… crimes committed by these organizations…”
Authorities emphasize that an indictment or complaint represents only an allegation: all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
