Even after he'd been caught stealing United States Postal Service mail in 2019, a 38-year-old man continued his identity-theft crime spree for two years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Northern District of California.

Already in custody since his arrest in February 2021, he pleaded guilty on October 7, 2021. At his sentencing hearing February 2, the man from Concord, California, was immediately sent to federal prison for 66 months followed by three years of post-prison supervision. He was also ordered to pay $134,908.32 in restitution.

Guilty as Charged

The man pleaded guilty to committing seven crimes after being caught on January 9, 2019, by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service impersonating a postal worker.

In his plea agreement, he admitted to perpetrating bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of unauthorized access devices, and attempted mail theft. According to the USAO press release, he confessed to “buying a $58,000 Toyota sportscar, a $98,000 speedboat and trailer, a $30,000 Mercedes automobile, $9,000 in goods from a high-end clothes retailer, $67,000 in goods from a big box hardware store, and $9,000 in goods from a tractor supply retailer.”

A Well-Negotiated Plea Deal

By pleading guilty, the offender “is fully coming to grips with his lifestyle and well recognizes he has caused enormous harm to individuals and businesses alike,” his defense attorney Elizabeth Falk wrote in a memo to the court. “In his own words, he was a menace to society, and he wanted to close out all those cases with guilty pleas and ‘make things right.’ ”

The offender's apparently sincere feelings of remorse and the negotiating skills of his defense attorney likely resulted in a lighter sentence than what he could have received if he had fought the charges. Sometimes taking a plea deal is a guilty defendant's best option.

Guilty or innocent, anyone facing the full force of the federal government needs professional criminal defense. Call the Sigal Law Group for a free legal consultation at 818-325-0570.