Identity Thief Receives 7 Years

A Ventura man who admitted stealing the identities of nearly 1,000 people across the nation was sentenced Thursday to seven years in state prison.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Clark rejected a plea to grant 30-year-old Trever Ziese probation, citing the defendant’s earlier record of drug offenses and the broad scope of his current crimes.

According to prosecutors, Ziese and Donna Mendoza, a 35-year-old Oxnard resident, ran a sophisticated identify fraud ring that stole credit card and bank account numbers from hundreds of people, including a federal judge.

Working from a Camarillo motel room, the pair obtained information using stolen mail and hotel registration cards, then produced fake identification cards and checks using a computer, a scanner and a credit card skimmer that reads a card’s magnetic strip, authorities said.

Ziese and Mendoza were arrested in July after fleeing Ventura County sheriff’s deputies who attempted to make a traffic stop in Camarillo. Ziese ran into an orchard and was caught by police dogs, Deputy Dist. Atty Howard Wise said.

Mendoza, who also ran away, was arrested after she barricaded herself in the motel room, where detectives found evidence of the fraud operation, Wise said.

Some of the forged checks were counterfeited using a background emblazoned with a swastika and a Nazi slogan, authorities said.

In December, Ziese pleaded guilty to eight counts of felony identity fraud and one count each of felony forgery, possession of a counterfeit check, falsification of a drivers license and using a fake check.

Mendoza was sentenced in October to a year in jail and placed on three years’ probation after pleading guilty to multiple fraud counts. She was also barred from carrying blank checks or opening a checking account during her probation, authorities said.

The duo had previously operated out of Santa Barbara, said Wise, one of two prosecutors assigned to the district attorney’s Computer Crimes Unit.

During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Wise asked the judge to send a message with Ziese’s case that identity theft will not be treated lightly.

“This case illustrates pretty vividly the problem of identity fraud,” Wise said. “I think the word needs to go forth that this is a serious crime.”

The defense asked Clark for leniency, arguing that Ziese was an addict who became involved in the scheme to support a $40-a-day drug habit.

But Clark denied probation, noting that Ziese had previously served time in prison and had not performed well on parole.