The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has sought sanctions against TJX, DSW and BJ's for their alleged failure to take appropriate security measures to protect customer information.

Gonzalez was previously arrested by the Secret Service in 2003 for access device fraud. During the course of that investigation, the U.S. Secret Service discovered that Gonzalez, who was working as a confidential informant for the agency, was involved in this case, the DOJ said.

Gonzalez faces life in prison if he is convicted of all the charges alleged in the Massachusetts indictment.

Also on Tuesday, indictments were unsealed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego against alleged participants Maksym "Maksik" Yastremskiy of Kharkov, Ukraine, and Aleksandr "Jonny Hell" Suvorov of Sillamae, Estonia.

The two are charged with crimes related to the sale of the stolen credit card data that Gonzalez and others illegally obtained, as well as additional stolen credit card data.

Suvorov is charged with conspiracy to possess unauthorized access devices, possession of unauthorized access devices, trafficking in unauthorized access devices, identity theft, aggravated identity theft, and aiding and abetting. Yastremskiy is charged with trafficking in unauthorized access devices, identity theft, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.

An indictment against Hung-Ming Chiu and Zhi Zhi Wang, both of China, and a person known only by the online nickname "Delpiero," was also unsealed in San Diego Tuesday.

Chiu, Wang and Delpiero are charged with conspiracy to possess unauthorized access devices, trafficking in unauthorized access devices, trafficking in counterfeit access devices, possession of unauthorized access devices, aggravated identity theft, and aiding and abetting.

Also in San Diego, Sergey Pavolvich of Belarus, and Dzmitry Burak and Sergey Storchak, both of Ukraine, were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to traffic in unauthorized access devices.

The San Diego charges allege that Yastremskiy, Suvorov, Chiu, Wang, Delpiero, Pavolvich, Burak and Storchak operated an international stolen credit and debit card distribution ring with operations from Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, China, the Philippines and Thailand. The indictments allege that each of the defendants sold stolen credit and debit card information. The indictment of Yastremskiy alleges that he made more than US$11 million from this criminal activity.

These indictments and complaints are the result of a three-year undercover investigation conducted out of the San Diego Field Office of the U.S. Secret Service.

In May, Gonzalez, Suvorov and Yastremskiy also were charged in a related indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.