Three Cuban nationals were each sentenced Thursday in Kanawha County to spend a year on probation for skimming credit card numbers from gas stations.
Lazaro Abraham-Manso, Yordan Herrera-Ruiz and Yusmani Alvarez-Esmori pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit credit card fraud. The charge carries a possible one- to five-year prison sentence but Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom suspended the jail sentence in exchange for a year of probation.
The men, who claim to be political refugees from Cuba, have already spent four months in the South Central Regional Jail.
Bloom also told the men they could serve the probation in Florida.
Assistant Kanawha prosecutor Fred Giggenbach said the men could face charges from other counties over the skimmers.
Giggenbach said after obtaining credit card numbers the men went on shopping sprees.
Law enforcement officials have issued several warnings in the past year about skimmers being found at gas stations.