CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Your mailbox should be secure; your identity, sacred. But federal prosecutors said four people profited off people's personal information.
The scheme stretched from the Carolinas to Tennessee and Georgia.
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Prosecutors said the suspects would steal people's mail, real estate listings and other public records.
Federal documents show they then used that information and their own pictures to create fake government IDs.
Prosecutors said they'd go to places like Lowes and Target and get credit cards in other people's names.
Prosecutors said they'd even buy luxury cars.
The scheme racked up $450,000 in just a few months.
It all unraveled at a Boone storage facility.
Prosecutors said one of the suspects had a unit go up for auction.
Inside police said they found stolen ID information and materials to make more. That's when police started tracking them down.
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Kevin Bennet Rosario and Jessica Sowell were caught in Charlotte. Heather Westerfield, who made her first appearance in court Wednesday, was caught in Charleston. Dayton Kolczak was also busted in South Carolina.
Police said they found dozens of fake licenses during their investigation.
All the suspects have been charged with various counts of identity theft and fraud.
Westerfield is being held without bond.
She’ll be back in court later this month to see if she’ll be released with conditions.
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