Mail and Identity Theft Convictions Result in a Federal Prison Sentence

MEDFORD, Ore. – Gregory Stephen Brooks, 50, Grants Pass, Oregon was sentenced Monday to 81 months in federal prison by Senior U.S. District Judge Owen M. Panner after his convictions for conspiracy to commit mail theft, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.  As part of the sentence, Brooks received a mandatory consecutive term of two years in prison required by federal statute where a victim’s identification was possessed or used in committing bank fraud.  Brooks was also ordered to pay $12,387.06 in restitution to victims of the fraud.

Between March 2013 and July 2013, Brooks and his co-defendant, Michelle Renee Lustig, 45, Grants Pass, Oregon, stole substantial quantities of mail from over 400 residential and business mailboxes in Jackson and Josephine Counties.  Large quantities of stolen mail were recovered at a series of locations:  discarded along the roadside; in a U-Haul truck being used by defendants; and from a residence where defendants were staying in Grants Pass.  Defendants forged and deposited stolen checks, used stolen debit and credit cards to make withdrawals from victim bank accounts and to make fraudulent retail purchases, and used victim personal identification to apply for and obtain fraudulent credit and debit cards from victim companies.  Brooks has an extensive criminal history of convictions dating back to 1981 including numerous thefts and burglaries, as well as drug trafficking offenses.  Lustig is scheduled to be sentenced next month for her role in the criminal activity.

This case was investigated by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Grants Pass Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Byron Chatfield.