Five members of an identity theft ring that operated in the Denver metro area have been charged in a 65-count grand jury indictment, authorities say.
Ringleader Shadwick Weaver, 35, was charged with 56 counts including violating Colorado’s organized crime statutes, forgery, theft, computer crimes and identify theft. He is being held on a $500,000 bond, said Bob Friel, Aurora police spokesman.
Aurora police on the economic crimes unit, working with a similar unit within the Denver District Attorney’s Office, arrested three other ring members, James Bierce, 41, Carrie Robinson, 25, and Kelly Head, 35, who each were indicted on 13 counts including theft and identity theft, Friel said.
Levi Fairbanks, 35, indicted on seven counts including forgery and theft, has not yet been arrested.
During the investigation that began in April, authorities confiscated nearly 300 fraudulent identification cards and counterfeit checks they had used to steal thousands of dollars from dozens of victims, Friel said.
Weaver used the other four members of the ring to cash fraudulent checks and pass “temporary credit cards” at grocery stores, hotels and liquor stores.
The group made their own credit cards that didn’t have magnetic strips on the back, Friel said. When asked about the missing magnetic strips, ring members would say the cards were only temporary and ask the clerk to key in the credit card numbers stolen from a valid credit card, he said.
As is common with identification theft rings, the group used money from the credit cards to buy methamphetamine, Friel said. The ring burglarized homes and broke into cars to steal credit card information.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
