Man Receives 6 Years in Identity Theft Case
A Santa Paula man has been sentenced to six years in state prison after pleading guilty to numerous fraud and forgery counts in connection with an identity theft ring involving nearly two dozen victims.
Timothy Murphy, 31, was arrested in Moorpark in July after being stopped for driving an unregistered car. When a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy questioned him, Murphy gave the officer a false name, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Howard A. Wise.
A search of the vehicle uncovered evidence of an identity fraud operation, including a computer, police scanner, counterfeit checks, phony California driver’s licenses and stolen mail, Wise said.
An investigator with the district attorney’s office examined the seized computer and found additional evidence linking Murphy to the manufacture of false checks and identifications, Wise said.
Last month, Murphy pleaded guilty to 21 criminal counts, including felony identity fraud, forgery, falsification of a driver’s license and possession of a blank counterfeit check.
In addition to his prison sentence, he was ordered to forfeit his computer.
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