Thirteen people have been indicted in connection with identity theft, which Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey today called a “very significant issue in our community.”
A bill that makes theft of personal identifying information a crime and boosts possible prison time was introduced today in the Colorado House. Storey said Colorado ranks fifth in the nation in identify theft victims per capita, and is one of only two states without a law to specifically target identity theft.
The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office has the resources to pursue identity theft cases under current racketeering laws, Storey said, but added a statewide is needed since “many jurisdictions don’t have the resources” to pursue such cases.
The two grand jury indictments unsealed Friday charge 13 individuals – nine in one group and four in another – with violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, possession of a controlled substance, theft, computer crime, possession of methamphetamine, conspiracy to commit theft, and forgery.
One indictment contains a total of 96 counts and the other has 60 counts. Storey lauded “very tedious and very excellent police work” with Arvada and Westminster officers spearheading multi-jurisdictional investigations that included the Front Range from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins.
The first indictment, which took two years to investigate, names Robert Law, 42; Delayne Law, 49; Scott Zubiceh, 34; Shaun Bogner, 27; Rodney Smith, 38; Michael Smith, 28; Erin Salmen, 22; Myra Secret, 45, and Gina Muniz, 35. All are in custody except Rodney and Michael Smith. Warrants have been issued for their arrest.
From Jan. 1, 2004 through Jan. 31, 2005, members of the ring stole mail from people’s mailboxes and created fictional checks and identification documents on a computer, said Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Tom Jackson. The suspects, who he said were all alleged methamphetamine users, opened credit accounts with stores, cashed the phony checks, opened bank bank accounts in false names, and bought items with the money frequently used to buy drugs.
A year of investigation yielded the second indictment that names Nichole Bailey, 31; Robert Bell, 28; Eric Peterson, 22, and Karima Howard, 42. Peterson and Howard are in custody and warrants have been issued for Bailey and Bell.
Jackson said the second group “operated a little more simply.” Group members would “get high on methamphetamines and sit on the phone and call banks” to obtain financial information that they would used to make forged checks, he said. The checks would be cashed or used to buy items at stores and banks with the aim of buying drugs.
