SF Man Pleads Guilty To Identity Theft
An identity theft suspect has pleaded guilty to using stolen identities to open new bank accounts and withdraw thousands of dollars after depositing fake checks, District Attorney Kamala Harris said Tuesday.
Harley Longsdon, 34, of San Francisco, pleaded guilty Friday to four counts of identity theft and one count of commercial burglary, according to Harris.
Prosecutors stated that Longsdon used the victims' identities to open accounts at a Wells Fargo Bank, CitiBank or Bank of America.
Longsdon would then fashion counterfeit checks, deposit them into the bank accounts and extract tens of thousands of dollars, according to Harris.
Court documents stated that Longsdon opened as many as five different bank accounts between July 2006 and November 2006.
Longsdon also opened a fraudulent credit line at Costco Wholesale Co. and purchased thousands of dollars worth of merchandise under the identity of one of the victims, prosecutors said.
Longsdon was arrested March 13 when a witness saw him trying to break the lock of a U-Haul truck and called the police, Harris said.
The U-Haul truck had been rented in the name of one of the victims and Longsdon had apparently lost the key, according to Harris.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Longsdon will be sentenced Aug. 7 to four years in state prison. He is also required to pay $65,000 in restitution to the victims, according to Harris.
"Having your identity stolen is a financial nightmare," Harris said. "It can take years for victims to recover financially."
