Identity theft probe nets charges against 22

Criminal charges were filed this week in one of the largest identity theft investigations in the area’s history, including a new effort targeting ring leaders with offenses once reserved only for mobsters.

The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office is pursuing about 160 felony counts against 22 different suspects in at least four different rings of thieves involved in stealing checks, altering checks and making identifications so that those forged checks could be used, sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Barbieri said.

The joint investigations by Spokane Police and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office include four suspects who have been charged with leading organized crime, in which prosecutors must show that they profited by directing three or more people to commit felony acts on their behalf.

“It’s a charge that has rarely been used. But when we show there is a group that is creating a large economic and criminal problem in the community, then we use that as an appropriate charge,” Barbieri said.

Deputy Prosecutor Bob Sargent said the most a suspect will face for multiple convictions of forgery is 29 months in prison. Because of overcrowding, the Washington Legislature passed a law several years ago that cuts the sentences for property crimes in half. With good time, the most forgers spend in prison is about a year even if they were convicted of 20 felony counts.

However, judges can sentence suspects up to 198 months for leading organized crime, Sargent said.

Barbieri said investigators hope that the heftier sentences will send a message to car prowlers and burglars who are committing crimes mostly to fund their drug habits.

“They consider (a year in prison) the price of doing business,” Barbieri said. “Right now, property criminals aren’t going to stop doing it because it’s profitable. It will be a continual problem until we do make a dent.”

For example, 31-year-old Cybil M. Imholt faces 21 felony counts, including leading organized crime, Barbieri said.

“During the interview, she told us she had 60 or 70 different people bringing her account numbers and checks that were stolen in vehicle prowlings and burglaries,” he said. “She would then alter the checks and call the bank to make sure the accounts were good. She would then pass out the checks to four or five people to cash the checks.”

Imholt would then get back 50 percent of whatever money or merchandise those other criminals could get, Barbieri said.

Barbieri estimated that the investigations found about 50 victims who had checks or account numbers stolen. And that number is expected to at least double as soon as forensic experts are able to process multiple computers seized in several search warrants.

These are the suspects charged with organized crime and a list of their other charges:

•Imholt: She faces 10 counts of forgery; five counts of second-degree theft; unlawful possession of payment instrument; possession of a controlled substance; attempted second-degree theft; second-degree identity theft; and first-degree identity theft.

•Shawn Anderson, 32: He faces four counts of forgery; second-degree possession of stolen property; and two counts of unlawful possession of a personal identification device.

•Melissa Lickteig, 38: She also faces a forgery and second-degree identity theft charges.

•Gary D. Dibble, 56: He also faces two counts of forgery and first-degree identity theft.

Spokane Police were investigating Dibble before Spokane County sheriff’s detectives began a more than three-month investigation of several suspects who were interconnected in the identity theft trade.

The county’s break came when the Eastern Washington Joint Fugitive Task Force was looking to arrest a felony suspect. They arrested one suspect who had 60 or 70 altered checks and her associates led police to still more associates until the investigation grew almost too big to manage, Barbieri said.

“One thing you find with these cases is they just expand. For us, it is one of the biggest cases we’ve worked because of the organization,” he said. “You have to be able to turn them off.”

For example, several suspects went to Anderson for his ability to make fake IDs. Others knew how to make checks. And still other suspects passed those bad checks and returned funds to several of the suspects charged with organized crime, Barbieri said.

The county began using that charge in 2002 when Sargent, for the first time, used the leading organized crime charge against Steven Ray Munson, who was altering checks and passing them out to others to cash. They would then bring him back some of the proceeds.

Superior Court Judge Robert Austin sentenced Munson to 198 months in prison. The state Court of Appeals in February 2004 upheld Austin’s conviction.

Barbieri said the county views property crimes as the gateway to violent crimes because criminals use forgery, identity theft and burglary to fund their drug habits. The drug trade often leads to violence.

“That’s what’s important, to get the best sentences we can on property criminals so we can reduce violent crime,” Barbieri said. “It’s going to be a continual problem until we do make a dent.”