TYLER, Texas — Smith County jurors on Wednesday sentenced a Houston man to 65 years in prison after finding him guilty of using a skimming device at a Tyler gas station pump to take customers' financial information.
Yoelvis Herrera, 33, who entered a not guilty plea, was convicted of unlawful interception or use of electronic communication in the 114th District Court, according to judicial records.
He was also fined $5,000,
He was booked into the Smith County Jail on Dec. 9, 2019 in connection with using the skimming device to take bank account information from the Exxon in the 1700 block of NNW Loop 323 in Tyler, according to an arrest affidavit.
Herrera received 815 days of credit for time served in the Smith County Jail, according to court records.
A Tyler Police Department detective found a skimming device in a pump on Dec. 4, 2019 at the station. This device can capture a customer’s financial information, personal identification number and ZIP code, according to the affidavit.
A camera inside the pump alerted authorities that the pump door was open. The video showed a man opening the door, taking out the circuit board, inspecting it, putting it back in and closing the door. Officers on the scene identified the man as Herrera, the affidavit read.
When authorities spoke to him, Herrera claimed he was visiting his girlfriend in Tyler, but he could not recall the street she lived on. He allowed police officers to look through his phone and its GPS. The phone showed directions to another gas station at U.S. Highway 69 North and Loop 323, according to the document.
He denied he had been looking for that gas station. He said he was getting gas at the station, noticed the pump door open and decided to look inside. The detective noticed from the GPS that Herrera was traveling around Texas and Louisiana, with most of the places he visited being gas stations, the affidavit stated.
According to the affidavit, authorities found a screwdriver with a socket attachment and hex key, which could be used to open the pump door, in Herrera’s vehicle.
