A Romanian national living in Garden Grove, California, was sentenced to federal prison Thursday for 2023 crimes of installing skimming devices in multiple ATMs across Oregon and Maine. 

The man, Florin George Ionita, 45, stole more than $176,000 with the skimming devices and was sentenced to 54 months in federal prison and a five-year term of supervised post-prison release. 

Ionita was also ordered to pay $176,922 in restitution to his victims. 

From June to August 2023, Ionita installed the ATM skimming devices and utilized them to steal account information and personal identification numbers from customers who conducted transactions at the ATMs. 

Using the stolen information, he created counterfeit debit cards and withdrew cash from hundreds of victims’ accounts, according to a release from the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office.

The Medford Police Department received a report of a masked individual installing a skimming device on Aug. 22, 2023, receiving photos of Ionita and distributing them to a law enforcement bulletin in hopes of identifying him, the release said. 

The next day, investigators with the Kennebunk Police Department in Maine identified Ionita and informed Medford police of their own investigation of him installing skimming devices in the south Maine area. 

Due to his immigration status, Ionita was required to wear a GPS tracking device, which confirmed his location at multiple banks where the skimming devices were reported. 

A federal grand jury in Medford returned a nine-count indictment charging Ionita with bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft on Nov. 2, 2023. 

A federal grand jury in the District of Maine charged Ionita with a 15-count indictment of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft on March 20, 2024. 

Ionita pleaded guilty on Dec. 6, 2024, to one count each of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft for Oregon and the same for his crimes in Maine. 

Those involved in investigating the case included Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Secret Service New England Cyber Fraud Task Force, Medford Police Department Criminal Investigative Division, Kennebunk Police Department and Freeport Police Department.