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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Prison sentences for fraud, theft

Two Spokane men who used the names of dead people to create driver’s licenses and pass bad checks are headed to federal prison. Alphonso Guster, 46, and Vladimir A. Bibas, 25, were arrested in December after passing checks at Walmart in Moscow, Idaho. The men had about 25 fraudulent driver’s licenses they were using to pass checks at area businesses, according to court documents. Prosecutors say the men bought merchandise with the checks, then returned the items for cash refunds. The men faced felony forgery charges in Nez Perce County, but those charges were dismissed after a federal grand jury indicted them in February. Guster was sentenced Monday to 39 months in prison and five years probation after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in Coeur d’Alene to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in August. Bibas pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced Oct. 25 to six months in prison and two years of probation. Both men are to pay $6,628.11 in restitution.