United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

TWO DEFENDANTS IN
STOLEN MAIL / IDENTITY THEFT CONSPIRACY SENTENCED

AMARILLO, Texas — Today, in federal court in Amarillo, the first of ten defendants who pled guilty to their role in a stolen mail/identity theft conspiracy, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper, of the Northern District of Texas.

Judge Robinson sentenced Ashley Nichole Prewitt, 18, to three years probation and Jeremy Scott Mercer, 30, to 24 months in prison. Prewitt pled guilty in August to a misprision of a felony and Mercer pled guilty in August to conspiracy to possess stolen mail matter. Mercer is in federal custody.

The eight other defendants charged have all entered guilty pleas to their role in the conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing.

As part of the conspiracy the defendants stole mail and retrieved abandoned mail from trash receptacles. They used the personal identifying information on the individuals owning the stolen or abandoned mail they had obtained and opened lines of credit, activated discarded convenience checks and credit offers, placed orders for items by charging the purchases to the stolen credit cards, purchased items including cellular telephones and gift cards and otherwise assumed the identity of the individuals who had their personal information stolen.

Jeremy Scott Mercer burglarized vehicles and stole, among other things, credit cards from those vehicles. In March 2007, Ashley Nichole Prewitt used one of the stolen credit cards to obtain more than $600 in merchandise from a local Wal-Mart. Although she did not participate in the vehicle burglaries, she knew that Mercer did, and she knowingly benefitted from the use of those credit cards and failed to notify any authority as soon as possible.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Amarillo Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy L. Drake of the Amarillo, Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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