Idaho man admits opening credit cards, buying electronics using stolen identities

BOISE, Idaho – An Idaho man pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated identity theft and possessing multiple false identification documents, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Grangeville police.

Jordan Schoo, 34, who resided in both Nampa and Grangeville, admitted that he knowingly possessed counterfeit Idaho driver’s licenses, which he used to purchase goods on credit. According to court records, Schoo was caught with nine fake ID’s emblazoned with his photo and the stolen personal information of others. Prosecutors say Schoo stole the identity of a former roommate and obtained some of the other identities through his mother’s business. Schoo took out credit cards in the names of various victims and purchased consumer goods, including a big screen TV and a car audio and security system from local and online retailers such as Best Buy.

Schoo’s sentencing is set for April 1 at the Boise federal courthouse. The charge of identity theft by possession carries a maximum prison term of five years; the charge of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence, which must run consecutively to the prison term on the identity theft by possession charge.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.