The former owner of a check-guarantee and debt-collection business was accused Tuesday of turning over financial records of thousands of people to a neo-Nazi gang that authorities say engages in identity theft and other illegal activity.
Robert Jerome Upson, 43, owner of the now-defunct Recovery Specialists Inc., which did business under the name of VeriCheck, appeared Tuesday in Denver District Court to be advised of the indictment.
Nine others also were indicted. They include people identified by police in court records as members and associates of the white supremacist Wood Pile Gang, which authorities say is related to the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations. William Varney, 39, identified as a member of a Colorado white supremacist gang known as the 211 Crew, was among those indicted.
The indictment said Upson turned over information about thousands of accounts to the identity-theft ring in exchange for drugs, money, transportation and lodging.
As a result, VeriCheck clients and customers have lost more than $20,000, the indictment said. Police estimate that Upson’s files contained up to 1.8 million personal and financial accounts.
Prosecutor Melanie Names said the investigation is continuing as authorities try to determine the exact amount of the losses.
The goal of the group, which included Upson, was to obtain methamphetamine and steal money, merchandise and services through identity theft, according to the indictment. The group also stole firearms and cars, the indictment alleged. Charges against the 10 range from racketeering to theft, computer crime, aggravated motor-vehicle theft and forgery.
Three were identified as the ring leaders: Daniel Hamlett, 42, and brothers Shawn Gallegos, 30, and Jose “Joe” Gallegos, 25.
Police say Hamlett worked with Upson at VeriCheck.
Another Gallegos brother, Tom, said his brothers had lived exemplary lives until 18 months ago. He said both became addicted to meth and that the gang used their addiction to coerce them into doing certain things.
“They told them if you want more drugs, you do this,” he said. “And if you snitch, you are dead.”
He said both men had lost everything – their jobs, families and homes.
An administrative-law judge shut down Upson’s VeriCheck business, which is not related to the national company, on March 8, finding that Upson’s company had engaged in “multiple violations of the law, many of which are egregious and in some cases resulted in actual consumer and client harm.”
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
