Defendant in Massive ID Theft Case Sentenced in Texas

A man who stole approximately 16,000 identities, including those belonging to active duty and reserve U.S. service members, and used them to defraud the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), was sentenced this week in a Dallas federal court.

Rene Quimby, 42, was sentenced to 75 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $210.119 in restitution to AAFES.

Quimby has been in federal custody since his arrest in Redlands, California, in February 2011 on charges outlined in an indictment returned in the NDTX. He pleaded guilty in May 2011 to one count of fraud and related activity in connection with access devices and one count of aggravated identity theft.

AAFES, headquartered in Dallas, owns and operates thousands of retail outlets called Post or Base Exchanges, located on military installations worldwide.

According to evidence presented at the hearing, from January through December 2007, Quimby used file-sharing programs to search for and download victims’ computer files containing personally identifiable information including, names, dates of birth, social security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers and user names and passwords to various online accounts, and used this information to make fraudulent online purchases.

Quimby had more than 16,000 identities on his computer and organized approximately 650 files of victims’ personal information, credit card numbers, etc., to purchase various merchandise, including computers, digital cameras, Apple iPods, and washers and dryers from the AAFES.com website.

According to authorities the merchandise sent to various addresses in southern California where it would be retrieved and sold, i.e., ‘fenced.’ Quimby received the proceeds from the fenced merchandise.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.