Staff Reports
A Tampa man is in jail after his arrest on charges he bought gasoline with counterfeit credit cards, intending to resell it on the black market.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam announced the bust Wednesday, made by his Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement.
Jose Rodriguez, 44, was charged with fraudulently purchasing the fuel and “filling unlawful fuel containers for transport and potential resale on the black market.”
Officers also charged Rodriguez with credit card forgery related to an arrest in March.
“Our law enforcement officers will continue to protect Floridians’ hard-earned money from individuals who try to cheat the system to make a quick buck,” Putnam said.
“Upon conducting inventory on Rodriguez’s vehicle, investigators recovered multiple illegal fuel transfer tanks and 18 counterfeit credit cards,” a news release said.
Rodriguez is in the Hillsborough County Jail on one count of unlawful conveyance of fuel, a third degree felony; one count of fraudulently obtaining fuel, a second degree felony; two counts of credit card forgery, a third degree felony; one count of possession of more than 15 but less than 49 counterfeit credit cards, a second degree felony; and driving while license suspended with knowledge, a second degree misdemeanor.
