Case closed against band of identity thieves

Nine people have been convicted for taking part in a check washing scheme earlier this year in Agoura Hills.

According to Sgt. Jim Royal of the Lost Hills Sheriffs Department, the local men and women were charged with identity theft, mail theft, forgery and fraud, and received a cumulative sentence of more than 10 years in state or county jail.

Detective Steve Colitti said the perpetrators of the crime were tried separately, although they each played a role in the same scheme, from stealing checks inside local mailboxes to "washing" them and forging them to steal money.

The criminals removed the payee information and dollar amount on a check with a special solution and insert their own names or false identities, said one detective.

Jay Yang, 20, was arrested on April 8 at his Agoura Hills home. Yang will serve 180 days in jail and five years formal probation for his part in the crime spree. Formal probation, also known as supervised probation, requires the defendant to regularly meet with an assigned probation officer, versus informal probation that only requires that the defendant to complete the sentence terms and stay out of trouble.

At Yang's residence police reportedly recovered stolen mail from about approxmimately 100 victims living in Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Calabasas, Simi Valley, Los Angeles, Pasadena and other area cities.

Also arrested was David Lundberg, 22, of Westlake Village. Lundberg, who graduated from Oaks Christian High School in 2004, was sentenced to 270 days in jail with three years of formal probation.

Ninsi Molina, 21, will spend the next three years in state prison, while Courtney Mix was sentenced to two years in the state system, Colitti said.

Gina Cappilla, a 2005 graduate of Indian Hills High School, and Terry Shook, 21, were both sentenced to three years formal probation.

Colitti said the criminals lived either in the Conejo Valley or West San Fernando Valley.

Colitti said he wasn't sure whether Chelsea Hurst, 19, had been charged in the case, although he knew she had three felony warrants against her. The case against Dennise Rubio, 19, is pending, Colitti said.

Royal said the recent case as a reminder for residents to either use a post office box or a locked mailbox at home when mailing checks.

Some of the crooks would break into mail boxes to steal the checks, while others would "wash" the checks for the purpose of redirecting the money to their own bank accounts.

Others who were caught took part in the forgery aspect of the scam.

"All of them pretty much knew about each other," Colitti said.