Jeremy Pawloski reports:
An Olympia-area man who was arrested in January in the largest identity theft case in Thurston County history pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of first-degree identity theft and 82 counts of second-degree identity theft.
Anthony Vaughn, 30, will be sentenced in two to three weeks, according to Thurston County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mark Thompson. Vaughn is being held at the Thurston County Jail.
Thompson said he would ask the judge to impose an exceptional sentence that would place Vaughn in prison for 15 years.
According to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, more than 1,000 victims statewide had their driver’s licenses, credit cards and Social Security numbers stolen. Detectives think Vaughn had accomplices who stole identification documents during car prowls and residential burglaries, and that they used the stolen documents to open bank accounts in the victims’ names. Detectives said that Vaughn would then quickly empty the bank accounts with online transactions.
Read more in the The Olympian.
Previous coverage here.