ALBUQUERQUE - Two residents of Albuquerque, N.M., were sentenced in federal court today for their convictions on conspiracy, fraud, identify theft and theft of mail charges. Katie Carrillo, 27, was sentenced to 25 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release, while her co-defendant Ralph Eastman, 49, was sentenced to 36 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release
Carrillo and Eastman were charged in a 16-count indictment on Aug. 23, 2016, with conspiracy, ten counts of bank fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, and two counts of theft of mail. According to the indictment, the defendants committed the offenses from Dec. 2015 through April 2016, in Bernalillo County, N.M., by stealing mail and packages from cluster mailboxes located in apartment complexes. The mail stolen included checkbooks, checks, ATM cards, PIN numbers and personal identifiers of victims, which the defendants allegedly used to commit further crimes.
On Aug. 2, 2017, Eastman pled guilty to the charges against him in the indictment, namely, conspiracy, eight counts of bank fraud, and two counts of theft of mail. Eastman also pled guilty to a felony information charging him with aggravated identify theft. In entering the guilty plea, Eastman admitted that from Dec. 2015 through April 2016, he conspired with Carrillo and others to steal mail and packages for the purpose of obtaining financial information and forms of identification. Eastman also admitted that he and Carrillo altered checks and used them at local businesses in exchange for goods, services and online transactions. In addition, Eastman admitted that he and others used stolen identifications and personal information to facilitate fraudulent transactions. In his plea agreement, Eastman also acknowledged that he and Carrillo stole mail and packages from authorized depositories for the U.S. Postal Service through mailboxes located at an Albuquerque apartment complex on March 9, 2016 and March 12, 2016.
On Aug. 18, 2017, Carrillo pled guilty to conspiracy, two counts of bank fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft and two counts of theft or receipt of stolen mail. Carrillo entered the guilty plea without the benefit of a plea agreement.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Albuquerque Police Department and the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office investigated this case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas Jon Ganjei and Paul Mysliwiec.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
