Sacramento woman who used stolen identity to buy cars sentenced to 4 years
A Sacramento woman who admitted using stolen identities to buy luxury cars — including a Jaguar that she drove to a probation appointment — was sentenced in federal court in Sacramento on Tuesday to four years in prison, authorities said.
Monique Marie Gonzales Grado, 32, pleaded guilty in September to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft after a probation officer noticed the Jaguar and began making inquiries, authorities said.
Gonzales Grado, who was also ordered to pay $82,000 in restitution to victims, had the identities of about 10,000 people in her possession when she was arrested, prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum filed in court.
She used one victim’s identity to obtain loans for luxury cars, including a 2014 Mercedes-Benz E350, purchased in 2022 with a $27,000 loan. She also bought a 2019 Jaguar F-Pace from a different dealership using a $55,000 loan in the same victim’s name.
She also used the victim’s identity to open credit union accounts, rent an apartment and obtain a $20,000 personal loan, the plea agreement said. She altered two checks to siphon $30,000 from the victim’s bank account, the agreement said.
During a meeting with her probation officer in August 2023, she falsely said that the Jaguar was hers, Gonzales Grado admitted in her plea agreement.
Officials searched the vehicle and seized it, finding the victim’s driver’s license and Social Security card, as well as five debit or credit cards in the victim’s name, the plea agreement said. They found another person’s driver’s license as well, but it had been altered to include Gonzales Grado’s photograph, the plea agreement said.
A 75-page manual on how to commit bank fraud was also in the car, along with information on how to make fake identification documents and counterfeit currency, court documents show.
Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge John Mendez to sentence Gonzales Grado to 65 months in prison, saying that she had a history of similar conduct, including prior convictions for grand theft, shoplifting and possessing identifying information for 10 people. Days after pleading guilty in this case, she was arrested on suspicion of another charge in Sacramento County, the prosecution’s sentencing memo and online court documents show.
But Gonzales Grado’s lawyer, Megan Hopkins, argued that her client deserved a shorter sentence, asking that she serve two years, with credit for the three years she served in Sacramento County Main Jail as the case proceeded.
The memo detailed what it described as a traumatic childhood, including allegations that she had been kidnapped, drugged and trafficked for sex as an 11-year-old. It said that Gonzales Grado was remorseful for her actions and was pursuing sobriety after years of addiction.
