Identity theft conviction for woman who stole mail throughout Northern California
A homeless woman has been convicted of identity theft in federal court for using counterfeit U.S. Postal Service keys to steal mail from more than 1,500 victims throughout Northern California.
Candice Nicole Freitas on Thursday pleaded guilty to bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and possession of reproduced U.S. Postal Service keys, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento.
Freitas, 32, and her co-defendant, Cody Cannon, were arrested on Aug. 2, 2018, at their RV, which was parked in a Rancho Cordova hotel parking lot. A federal grand jury indicted the couple a few weeks later.
Federal prosecutors said investigators found in the couple’s RV and elsewhere stolen mail, checks, multiple stolen and fake California driver’s licenses, at least two passports belonging to others and at least seven counterfeit postal keys.
Freitas and others used the counterfeit keys to steal mail from apartment complex mailboxes, the prosecutors said. Those involved in the scheme stole financial information, government IDs, credit and debit cards and other identifying information.
Then, they used the stolen information to defraud banks, including using stolen bank cards to make purchases and withdraw cash from ATMs in Vacaville, Folsom, Rocklin and Rancho Cordova, according to prosecutors.
Freitas is scheduled to be sentenced May 7. She faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for bank fraud, along with a two-year consecutive prison sentence for aggravated identity theft. But prosecutors say her sentence will be at the discretion of the court and sentencing guidelines.
Cannon has pleaded guilty to the same criminal charges in federal court and on Oct. 3 he was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and the Folsom and Vacaville police departments participated in the investigation that led to the couple’s arrest.
