December 2, 08

NEWS / OAKLAND IDENTITY THIEF SENTENCED TO 54 MONTHS IN PRISON

OAKLAND, Calif. – United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Letitia Ramona Mays was sentenced Friday to 54 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release and ordered to pay $357,214.17 in restitution for her participation in an identity theft scheme.

Mays, 26, of Oakland , pleaded guilty on September 5 to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to the plea agreement, Mays admitted to agreeing with others to submit fraudulent credit card applications and to engage in transactions using the personal identifying information of other people.

Mays admitted to being responsible for fraudulent purchases at rent-a-car companies; home improvement stores; lumber companies; plumbing supply stores; electrical supply companies; furniture stores; Louis Vuitton; jewelry stores; department stores; clothing stores; cellular phone stores; and hotels, including the Disneyland hotel and the Beverly Hills Le Meridien. On at least one occasion Mays stated that she rented a moving truck as a means to transport her stolen merchandise from the store.

Mays was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 2. She was charged with conspiracy, identity theft, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge D. Lowell Jensen following a guilty plea to the crimes of conspiracy to commit access device fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(b)(2) and aggravated identity theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1).

Wade M. Rhyne is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Alfonso Martinez. The prosecution is the result of a two-year investigation by the United States Secret Service, the Alameda Police Department, and the Twin Cities Police Department.

Further Information:

Case #: CR-08-00217 DLJ

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can .

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Jack Gillund at (415) 436-6599 or by email at jgillund@usa.doj.gov.


http://sanfrancisco.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2008/sf112608.htm