FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Docket #: 2:12-cr-233-JAM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Matthew Ray Ausborn, 32, and Christina Leanne Barrios, 29, both of Citrus Heights, pleaded guilty today to ID theft, credit card fraud, and three counts of possession of stolen U.S. Mail, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with the assistance of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department. Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rodriguez is prosecuting the case.

According to court documents, on July 2, 2011, sheriff deputies found Ausborn and Barrios asleep inside an idling car on a residential street in Carmichael. Barrios was arrested on an outstanding arrest warrant. Ausborn consented to a search of his vehicle. The search revealed a small amount of methamphetamine, approximately 400 pieces of stolen mail (involving over 250 victims), multiple identification documents for other people, checks, financial documents, handwritten notes containing personal identifying information, laptop computer, printer and blank check paper. Ausborn was arrested for methamphetamine possession.

On July 19, 2011, federal agents searched a storage unit in Sacramento that Ausborn rented and discovered more than 100 pieces of stolen mail (involving over 70 victims), identification and financial documents, handwritten notes with identifying information, computers, and a scanner. According to court documents, in July 2011, after release on bond for state charges and during the federal investigation, Ausborn and Barrios fled to Oregon and were arrested on July 20, 2011 in Medford on unrelated state charges.

Ausborn and Barrios are scheduled to be sentenced on November 13, 2012 by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez. They each face up to 30 years in prison, a $1.25 million fine, restitution, and three years of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

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