Identity Theft Scheme Results In Over 18 Years In Collective Prison Sentences For Three Metro-Area Residents

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, announced that three individuals were sentenced yesterday to serve over eighteen years in prison collectively for their involvement in an identity theft scheme. United States District Judge Robin J. Cauthron sentenced DERRICK JAY ALBERS, 39, to 120 months in prison, RACHEL LYNN HALL, 40, to 63 months in prison, and CRYSTAL DAWN TRUITT, 29, to 40 months in prison, for their involvement the scheme. Albers, Hall, and Truitt primarily resided in and around the Oklahoma City metropolitan area during the commission of the scheme.

On March 18, 2014, a federal grand jury indicted Albers, Hall, and Truitt for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to court records, from June 2013 until January 2014, the defendants obtained billing and financial information, including credit card numbers, for corporate and individual third parties and used these numbers, along with merchant ID numbers belonging to corporate entities, to create what appeared to be genuine credit cards. The defendants used these cards and the fraudulent IDs they had made to purchase services and merchandise both in stores and on-line. The defendants then brokered the merchandise and services on the streets for cash and drugs.

On May 7, 2014, Albers, Hall, and Truitt each pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

In addition to the prison terms imposed yesterday, Judge Cauthron also ordered the defendants to pay $110,814.15 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release when they are released from prison. In pronouncing the sentences, Judge Cauthron cited to the defendants’ lengthy criminal histories, the long-lasting effects borne by the victims of the scheme, and the need to adequately deter criminal conduct.

This case is the result of investigations conducted by the Oklahoma City Economic and Identity Crimes Task Force, the United States Secret Service, the Oklahoma City Police Department, and the Midwest City Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Travis D. Smith.