Irvine Police investigators identified over 20 people involved in a sophisticated identity theft ring. Irvine Police arrested five of the key players in the ring and another suspect several months later.
Jeremy Cushing was the ringleader of this large and lucrative identity theft ring. He employed several lieutenants to commit identity theft frauds and also to recruit runners who also committed fraud. Cushing took a large cut of the proceeds from each transaction and distanced himself from the street level offenses by employing others to commit the actual crimes. Cushing also provided the runners with detailed information about the victim the runner was impersonating.
Cushings bedroom had been converted into a high-tech factory which manufactured counterfeit checks, identification cards, counterfeit drivers licenses, and credit cards. The room contained printers, laminators, credit card duplicating machines, computer systems, templates for manufacturing drivers license holograms, and other items directly related to the manufacturing of counterfeit documents.
At Cushings residence, police found boxes of credit applications and other paperwork bearing personal identifying information of over 1,000 potential victims. Over 100 counterfeit credit cards, drivers licenses, and other documents were located within the residence with potential victims information listed on them. The source of the stolen identities appeared to be from stolen car dealership credit applications, mortgage/loan files, customer/client transaction forms from credit unions and banks, and miscellaneous documents that may have been found in the victims trash. Cushing and the ring obtained additional information about the potential victims through the Internet.
The proven loss on the case was over $150,000, with a conservatively estimated loss of over $500,000 on transactions.
Cushing and five accomplices were charged with 33 felony counts alleging conspiracy, grand thefts, identity theft, possession of counterfeit drivers licenses, forgery, and burglaries.
Jeremy Cushing pleaded guilty on April 30, 2002 to 10 felony counts. He was sentenced to 10 years in state prison and ordered to pay back $129,000 in restitution.
Phiet Nguyen and Truong Huynh pleaded guilty to the court on all 33 felony counts and enhancements on May 16, 2002 and were sentenced to four years and three months in state prison respectively. They were ordered to pay $129,000 in restitution.
Dalrick Warren also pleaded to the court for a sentence of four years in state prison. Ngoc Mai Le and Lorenzo Lewis both pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts and received lesser jail sentences.
