Five Venezuelans plead guilty in US ATM jackpotting plot

Five Venezuelan nationals pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit bank larceny after two failed attempts to install malware on ATMs in Wamego and Manhattan, Kansas, in December 2025.

Court documents identify the defendants as Luis Alberto Velasquez-Artigas, 27; Royder Adrian Figuera-Perez, 29; Javier Mejia Jr., 27; Gabriel Alexjalo Corales-Garcia, 33; and Italo Lizandro Corrales-Carrillo, 26. Prosecutors say the group traveled from Indiana and attempted to load software onto two machines that would later be activated remotely to force the ATMs to dispense cash. Surveillance cameras captured their activity at both locations, and the five were arrested several days after the incidents.

All five entered guilty pleas to a single count of conspiracy to commit bank larceny, the U.S. Department of Justice reported. Velasquez-Artigas has been sentenced to nine months in federal prison. Sentencing dates for the four remaining defendants have not yet been set.

FBI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Chris Ormerod described the case: “This case highlights a growing trend the FBI and our law enforcement partners are seeing nationwide involving a scheme known as ‘jackpotting.'”

Federal authorities warned in February 2026 that incidents of ATM jackpotting have increased in recent years. Since 2020, law enforcement has recorded more than 1,900 such incidents, with over 700 occurring in 2025 alone. Officials attribute more than $20 million in losses to those 2025 incidents.

Investigators said surveillance footage and digital evidence were central to the Kansas prosecutions, showing the defendants at ATM locations and documenting their interaction with the machines. The Department of Justice has pursued charges under statutes covering bank larceny and related computer crimes in multiple jackpotting cases.

In a separate 2026 case, Venezuelan national Juan Manuel Gouveia-Aguilera was sentenced to 96 months in prison and ordered to serve five years of supervised release for his role in a related jackpotting operation.

The remaining four defendants in the Kansas cases will be sentenced at dates to be determined by the court.