A New York Woman was sentenced to four years probation after being convicted of transporting stolen goods, United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced Friday.
According to court documents, from May through July of 2018, Keyla Mateo and
three co-conspirators stole and later transported iPhones from St. Thomas to the Bronx,
New York, where the phones were sold. As part of the conspiracy, one of Mateo’s co-
conspirators contacted cell phone carriers, including Sprint and AT&T, impersonating
legitimate customers by adding cell phones to the legitimate customers’ accounts
without their knowledge or consent. Mateo’s co-conspirators also arranged for the
iPhones to be mailed to another member of the conspiracy to a post office box located in
St. Thomas. Mateo would then arrange for the stolen iPhones to be shipped from St.
Thomas to her address in New York. After arriving in New York, the stolen iPhones were
sold by Mateo. The criminal scheme involved a total of 59 stolen cell phones valued at
approximately $1,000 each. All defendants pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and
Mateo’s co-conspirators are awaiting trial.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the U.S. Postal Service investigated
this case and Assistant United States Attorney Evan Rikhye prosecuted the case.
