WEEK IN REVIEW: Monroe County Prosecutors Announce Convictions in ATM Fraud, Kidnapping and Gun Cases
Jury convicts man in Key West kidnapping case as prosecutors also secure sentencing in Florida Keys ATM fraud ring and Lower Keys firearm assault.
Monroe County prosecutors this week announced a series of convictions and sentencing outcomes in unrelated criminal cases spanning organized ATM fraud, kidnapping and firearm violence across the Florida Keys.
Among the cases was the sentencing of a Romanian national tied to a multi-county ATM skimming operation, the jury conviction of a man accused of posing as an Uber driver before abducting a woman in the Lower Keys, and the sentencing of a California fugitive accused of threatening a roommate with a handgun on Little Torch Key.
Romanian national sentenced in ATM fraud case
Daniel Balan, 47, of Bacau, Romania, was sentenced in Monroe County Circuit Court after pleading no contest to grand theft and fraudulent use of personal identification information connected to a 2025 ATM fraud scheme targeting Monroe County residents.
Circuit Judge James Morgan sentenced Balan to 18 months in the Florida Department of Corrections on each count, with the sentences running concurrently with each other and with a federal prison sentence he is already serving. He received credit for 126 days served in the Monroe County Jail.
Authorities said the scheme involved re-encoded debit cards containing stolen banking information and PIN numbers used to make unauthorized withdrawals from victims’ accounts at ATMs in Key Largo.
Investigators linked Balan to seven Monroe County victims who reported unauthorized withdrawals totaling more than $5,200 between Jan. 13 and Jan. 14, 2025. In one case, surveillance footage allegedly showed Balan approaching a Key Largo ATM on a bicycle while wearing a helmet, face covering and backpack.
Balan was arrested Feb. 9, 2025, in Leon County during “Operation Take Back,” a multi-agency law enforcement initiative targeting organized ATM skimming and identity theft operations statewide.
Federal prosecutors later secured convictions against Balan in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on charges including bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and possession of unauthorized access devices. Federal authorities said the broader fraud scheme caused losses exceeding $56,000 across Florida.
Upon completion of his prison terms, Balan is expected to face immigration removal proceedings, prosecutors said.
Jury convicts defendant in kidnapping and attempted sexual battery case
In a separate case, a Monroe County jury convicted Emmanuel Noslen Teixeira of kidnapping and attempted sexual battery following a trial before Circuit Judge Mark Jones.
The charges stemmed from a July 11, 2022 incident in which prosecutors said Teixeira falsely represented himself as an Uber driver to gain the trust of a woman trying to get home after a night out in downtown Key West.
According to testimony presented at trial, the victim became separated from friends after leaving a bar and accepted a ride from Teixeira after he offered to take her home. Instead, prosecutors said, he drove north on U.S. 1 into Cudjoe Key and turned onto isolated Blimp Road.
Authorities said Teixeira ignored repeated requests to stop the vehicle and attempted unwanted sexual contact during the drive. Prosecutors said the victim escaped after the vehicle slowed, fled into nearby mangroves and later reached a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office substation on Cudjoe Key.
The investigation later intensified after a second woman reported a similar encounter in Key West in August 2022, prosecutors said. Teixeira still faces pending charges in that case, including sexual battery, false imprisonment, battery and indecent exposure. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Authorities said Teixeira later fled Florida and was eventually located in New Mexico before being extradited back to Monroe County at a reported cost of more than $7,000.
Sentencing in the kidnapping and attempted sexual battery case is scheduled for July 1.
California fugitive sentenced in Lower Keys gun case
Prosecutors also announced the sentencing of David Casares, 43, after he pleaded no contest to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, discharging a firearm in public or on residential property and battery.
The charges arose from a Feb. 3, 2025 confrontation at a shared residence on Little Torch Key.
According to investigators, the victim was watching television outside the residence when Casares demanded the television be turned off. Authorities said Casares then struck the victim, pointed a handgun at the victim’s head and later fired the weapon before fleeing the scene.
Deputies recovered a spent 9mm shell casing from the backyard, investigators said.
Authorities later determined Casares was wanted in California on an unrelated warrant and was legally prohibited from possessing firearms because of prior felony convictions.
County Judge Mark Wilson sentenced Casares to 36 months of probation along with concurrent jail sentences, including 365 days in the Monroe County Jail on the most serious counts.
The cases were prosecuted by the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office under State Attorney Dennis W. Ward.