The criminal organization mainly targeted the employees of US government agencies

Mar 10, 2014 18:21 GMT  ·  By

31-year-old Jenaro Blalock of Clinton, Maryland, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. Blalock is said to be the leader of an identity theft ring that caused losses of between $1 million (€730,000) and $2.5 million (€1.8 million) after stealing the identities of over 600 individuals.

According to the US Department of Justice, in addition to the 12 years in jail, the man will also spend three years on supervised release. He will also have to pay restitution to victims.

The sentence comes after Blalock pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and access device fraud in late October 2013.

Many of the 600 victims are US government employees. Blalock and his partner in crime, Christopher Bush, recruited women who had access to the identity information of government employees. Employees of the Department of Defense, the Department of State and the Agency for International Development were mainly targeted.

Once they obtained the information, the fraudsters made fake driver’s licenses and credit cards. The driver’s license and the stolen social security numbers were used to open credit lines at retailers and to rent cars which were subsequently sold on the black market with modified identification numbers.

Bush was sentenced in January 2014. He will spend 10 years in prison for his role in the scheme.