LOS ANGELES – A man who was on parole for identity theft when he participated in a second identity theft scheme that resulted in authorities recovering 300,000 consumer profiles has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison.
Robert Delgado Jr., 40, of Monterey Park, was sentenced yesterday by United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner, who warned Delgado that if he returned to crime after his release, he could expect an even longer sentence.
Delgado pleaded guilty in May 2011 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. When he pleaded guilty, Delgado admitted participating in a scheme in which he and others impersonated victims and used their credit to purchase goods at stores such as JCPenny.
The investigation began after one victim complained to the Post Office that a vacation hold had been placed on his mail without his consent, and that there were fraudulent charges on his Lowe’s credit card, which was maintained by GE Moneybank. Delgado’s telephone records showed that he had called GE Moneybank’s automated service line, which allows callers to check their available credit, 350 times in three months, even though he did not have a Lowe’s account.
When Postal Inspectors arrested Delgado on March 8, 2011, he was attempting to hide an external hard drive that contained:
more than 300,000 victim profiles, including names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers;
computer images used to create copies of credit cards for American Express, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, Ikea, JCPenney and Lowe’s;
computer images used to create copies of California Department of Motor Vehicle documents and identification cards; and
Scanned checks in the names of others.
Delgado has been held without bond since his arrest.
Authorities are continuing to investigate how Delgado came into possession of the 300,000 identity profiles.
Three other men involved in the scheme have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helped to locate fugitives and conduct execute search warrants.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California