A 30-year-old Waxahachie man is headed to federal prison after prosecutors said he helped pull off a SIM-card swapping hustle that drained roughly $1.77 million from victims’ cryptocurrency accounts. Chief U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor on Friday sentenced Kimionte Bennett to 70 months behind bars and ordered him to repay $1,769,438 in restitution. Bennett had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, Bennett was indicted in July 2025 and entered his guilty plea in October 2025. Prosecutors said the SIM-swap scheme caused actual losses totaling $1,769,438, and that same amount was ordered as restitution in the judgment.
How prosecutors say the scam worked
Prosecutors allege Bennett organized a series of “SIM swap” attacks that let conspirators briefly hijack victims’ phone numbers. During those windows, the group could intercept multi-factor authentication codes and force their way into cryptocurrency accounts, as reported by MyTexasDaily. Court filings state that once inside, the conspirators moved stolen crypto out of victims’ exchange and wallet accounts.
Co-conspirators and the federal probe
Two of Bennett’s co-conspirators prosecuted in related cases have already learned their fates. Leticia Contreras, 30, of Dallas, received a 57-month sentence, while Osvaldo Guajardo, 31, of Houston, was sentenced to 30 months, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The office said the investigation drew in multiple agencies, including the FBI’s Omaha and Dallas field divisions, FBI Detroit and the FBI Cyber Division, along with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric B. Chen, Matthew Weybrecht and Justin Beck handled the prosecution.
“These weren’t just digital numbers on a screen,” a victim told MyTexasDaily, explaining that the theft wiped out their family’s savings and derailed future plans. That victim testimony was submitted to the court and cited at sentencing.
What crypto holders should know
SIM-swap attacks remain a go-to move for crypto thieves. The FBI’s Internet Crime Report notes that cryptocurrency investment fraud has led to billions of dollars in reported losses in recent years, highlighting how vulnerable digital-asset holders can be. According to the FBI and guidance from NIST, consumers can lower their risk by setting account PINs with their wireless carriers and, whenever possible, swapping out SMS-based codes for authenticator apps or phishing-resistant security keys.
