Miramar Man Sentenced To Five Years For Participating In $1.5 Million Apple Pay Fraud Conspiracy

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis today sentenced Laurent Pierre-Louis (31, Miramar) to five years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Pierre-Louis had pleaded guilty on April 10, 2019.

According to court documents, Pierre-Louis and others fraudulently obtained access to at least 477 credit card accounts and linked those accounts to the Apple Pay app on their iPhones. Then, using their iPhones, Pierre-Louis and his co-conspirators made purchases using their victims’ credit card accounts, without having to present actual credit cards to retailers. Pierre-Louis, alone, was linked to over 1,800 fraudulent credit card transactions. Collectively, the conspirators made more than $1.5 million in fraudulent purchases.

Pierre-Louis’s co-defendants were previously sentenced as follows - Johnny Max Wesley (24, Miami) to 48 months in federal prison; Daniel Butler (30, North Miami) to 54 months’ imprisonment; and Rachel Bishop (27, Miami) to 12 months’ probation, to be served while on home detention.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican.