Identity Thief Gets 10 Years in Prison

A Monterey man will do ten years of hard time after pleading guilty last week to a string of theft crimes.

Francis Humes, 28, pleaded guilty on March 22 to numerous counts of Unlawful Use of Personal Identifying Information, Grand Theft, Vehicle Theft with a Prior  Conviction, Second Degree Burglary, Possession of Methamphetamine and Forgery, according to Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeffrey F. Rosen.

Humes went on an identity-theft crime spree from July to November 2010, targeting residents in multiple Santa Clara County towns, including Palo Alto, according to a statement from Rosen Thursday.

Humes created fake California driver’s licenses using victims’ information, passed fraudulent checks, opened fraudulent credit card accounts, illegally used victims’ credit cards, and fraudulently rented hotel rooms, Rosen said.

He also allegedly leased a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz under a false identity.

The crimes occurred while Humes was out on bail awaiting sentencing on a different ID theft case.

After his arrest, Humes was found with numerous fake IDs in various stages of production, Rosen said. He also allegedly had a trove of stolen mail, stolen checks, a stolen laptop and methamphetamine. Police found the stolen Mercedes at that time.

“Mr. Humes was a sophisticated identity thief,” Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Deng said.  “However, thanks to the dedicated efforts of law enforcement, identity theft will not pay in Santa Clara County.” 

Humes is scheduled for sentencing on May 8, 2012, in Department 24 of the Santa Clara County Superior Court. 

Palo Alto Police helped with the investigation, as did the Santa Clara Police Department, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, Campbell Police Department, and REACT, a Bay Area high-tech crimes and identity theft task force led by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.