Siskiyou County Woman Pleads Guilty to Aggravated Identity Theft

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Stacy Miranda Phillips, 29, of Montague, pleaded guilty today to aggravated ID theft related to her participation in a bank fraud and identity theft scheme, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, between September and December of 2015, Phillips worked with others in Siskiyou County to execute a scheme to steal from banks and merchants in the Siskiyou County. Phillips admitted that as part of her scheme she stole U.S. Mail and other personal property of local residents. Phillips and her associates targeted certain victims, postal customers, and mail receptacles utilized by those victims. Phillips used the checks, credit or debit cards, account numbers, names, PINs, and signatures found in the stolen mail to obtain cash and purchase items. Phillips also attempted to open a line of credit in the name of a Weed, California victim. Phillips stole mail from the following Siskiyou County Post Offices: Hornbrook, Grenada, and Montague.

This case is the product of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department, and the Yreka Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rodriguez is prosecuting the case.

Phillips is scheduled for sentencing on July 28, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley. Phillips faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.