Sep 18, 2006 11:17 pm US/Mountain
Denver Sees Connection Between Meth, ID Theft
by Rick Sallinger
DENVER (CBS4) ―
The Denver District Attorney's Office expects to prosecute over 100 identity thieves in 2006. Of those, 95 percent will be methamphetamine addicts.
Since their first identity theft bust involving drugs in 1998, the DA's office has seen a steady increase in methamphetamine-fueled theft rings.
"I would say almost every major identity theft ring that we've dealt with in the Denver DA's office in the last handful of years have been meth-related groups," said Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.
Drug clinics are also noticing a strong correlation between methamphetamine use and identity theft. Drug counselor Julie Miller said a great deal of her clients have said identity theft is often the easiest way for methamphetamine users to support the habit.
"Our clients report that, when they are using meth, they can really focus on the task at hand, which may be creating an I.D., dumpster diving, stealing someone's car," Miller said.
Miller is the Director of The Haven Programs, a drug counseling center that works very closely with recovering methamphetamine users. One of her clients, Jaimee Eleson, was the face of an identity theft ring.
"I would do anything," Eleson said. "I would steal. I would lie. I would prostitute. I forged checks."
Eleson cashed the checks for an identity theft ring that has since been dismantled by prosecutors. Although it has been a long time since she has stolen an identity, she remembers vividly how her addiction fueled the crime and, conversely, the crime fueled her addiction.
"It funded it," she said. "It was the means that we used to obtain our drugs."
When she wasn't cashing checks, she would dumpster dive to find the necessary information to steal an identity.
"We would actually stand on the sides and reach in and dig around," Eleson said.
She once found more than she needed to steal an identity in a dumpster.
"It had everything from the last three residences they maintained, they're last two, three, four jobs and the names of immediate family members," Eleson said.
Once information such as an account number or bank statement was obtained, Eleson would need a specialist in the ring to manufacture a fake ID.
"They would sit and spend sometimes three, four, five days doing them pixel by pixel, to get them to look as good as possible because the better looking your I.D. is, the quicker you can pull money out of that account," Eleson said.
She had a long run, but she, like many of her former colleagues, is now completing a community correction sentence.
Before the end of the year, the DA's office will have prosecuted over 600 identity theft cases, and the problem is growing.
"I think that the general public underestimates the problem that methamphetamine is in our community, in our country," said Morrissey. "I don't think people really realize the connection between meth and identity theft."
Eleson said she regrets ruining the lives of her victims, an emotion she never felt when she was using the drug.
"Because when you are high on methamphetamines, you don't care," she said. "The only thing that matters in your world is getting high again."
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