BOISE - Jordan Schoo, 34, of both Nampa and Grangeville, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to identity theft by possession of five or more false identification documents and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Schoo was charged in an 11-count indictment filed in federal court in Boise on Aug. 14, 2013.
According to the plea agreement, Schoo admitted that on March 20, 2013, he knowingly possessed nine false and fraudulent Idaho driver’s licenses, each with his own photograph but with the identifying information of actual people, such as names, dates of birth, and driver’s license numbers. Schoo possessed a tenth false identification with a different person’s photograph. According to the plea agreement, Schoo used, and intended to use, the documents to purchase goods on credit from various businesses participating in interstate commerce, such as Best Buy.
Schoo obtained the means of identification of people he impersonated from a number of sources, including that of a former roommate from Colorado. Schoo also used the means of identification taken from his mother’s business. He used the various false identities that he possessed to purchase goods from both local and on-line retailers, including a 60" television and a car audio and security system. Schoo also obtained credit cards in the names of various victims. As part of the scheme, he opened and maintained a mailbox under a false name at a commercial mailbox store.
The charge of identity theft by possession carries a maximum prison term of five years; the charge of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two year prison sentence, which must run consecutively to the prison term on the identity theft by possession charge.
Sentencing is set for April 1, 2014, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Boise.
United States Attorney Wendy Olson stated that, “The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting the financial security of the citizens of Idaho and will pursue identity theft offenders and holds them accountable for the extensive damage that they cause to victims."
The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Grangeville Police Department.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
