A 21-year-old Venezuelan national has pleaded guilty to hacking and draining two Missouri ATMs of a combined $13,800 last year, admitting he was part of a larger group of Venezuelans carrying out similar scams across the country. Aaron Nieves-Carrillo entered his plea to one count of conspiracy and one count of bank theft, acknowledging he stole $11,000 from an ATM in Festus on February 27, 2025, and $2,800 from an ATM in Kirkwood the very next day.
According to KTTN, Nieves-Carrillo appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to enter the plea. Per the plea agreement, the group he worked with installed hardware, software, or both inside targeted ATMs and manipulated the machines so they would dispense cash — a tactic commonly known as jackpotting. He also admitted participating in a broader group of Venezuelans tied to similar ATM thefts carried out elsewhere in the country, though the KTTN report does not name any co-defendants or specify how many other machines were hit.
Federal Charges Carry Years in Prison
The conspiracy charge Nieves-Carrillo pleaded to carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, while the bank theft charge carries up to 10 years behind bars, the station reports. Each charge also carries a potential fine of up to $250,000. He is scheduled for sentencing on February 4, 2027.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman prosecuting. Beyond the prison time and fines, the Justice Department notes that Nieves-Carrillo also faces deportation once his criminal case concludes.
Part of a Pattern Seen Beyond Missouri
The Festus and Kirkwood case echoes a similar scheme prosecutors described in Georgia, where the U.S. Department of Justice's Middle District of Georgia office detailed a multi-state ATM jackpotting ring involving Venezuelan nationals, with thefts or attempted thefts spanning Georgia, Florida, and Kentucky. In that case, 41NBC News reported that at least one ATM in Macon was among the machines targeted before the Venezuelan nationals involved began pleading guilty in federal court.
ATM jackpotting has drawn increasing federal attention in recent months. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in February that it was releasing technical indicators tied to a rise in malware-enabled ATM jackpotting incidents nationwide. The bureau has also recommended that institutions adopt a targeted audit policy focused on removable storage usage, controlled file access, and process creation to help detect jackpotting activity, according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Separately, the FBI estimated roughly 700 instances of ATM jackpotting in 2025, with losses totaling more than $20 million, per the FDIC Office of Inspector General. It remains unclear how the Festus and Kirkwood thefts fit into that broader national tally, and prosecutors have not disclosed whether additional suspects connected to Nieves-Carrillo's case have been charged.
