40-year-old Robert Delgado of Los Angeles was sentenced to eight years in prison on Monday for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He pleaded guilty in May of this year after he was arrested in his Monterey Park home in March 2011. He had already been on parole for identity theft prior to his arrest.

According to court documents, Delgado allegedly obtained credit card numbers, forged credit cards and government issued-ID stamped with his photograph, and then used the stolen documents to purchase HDTVs, jewelry, power tools and other electronics. He then would turn around and sell those items for cash.

U.S. Attorney’s spokesman Thom Mrozek said on Tuesday that Delgado was trying to hide his computer’s hard drive when he was arrested in March. The drive contained personal information for more than 300,000 people including images used to create copies of credit cards, images to create DMV documents and ID cards, and scanned checks obtained from other people.

“Authorities are continuing to investigate how Delgado came into possession of the 300,000 identity profiles,” he said.

The investigation leading to Delgado’s arrest began when a victim reported to the U.S. Post Office that his mail had been put on vacation hold without his permission. He also discovered fraudulent charges on his Lowe’s store credit card and additional accounts that had been fraudulently opened in his name. Eve Williams, a U.S. Postal Inspector, took the case, and with the help of an informant, tracked Delgado down via his phone number listed on his Facebook page.

GE Moneybank, who managed the original victim’s Lowe’s card, revealed that Delgado had made 350 calls within three months to the company even though he didn’t have an account. In addition to Lowe’s, Delgado was calling JC Penny’s merchant account line to see what stolen numbers — which were provided by a co-conspirator — actually had credit. GE Moneybank guarantees those accounts as well.

According to Williams, Delgado and a co-conspirator where caught on camera using a fake credit card at Lowe’s in October 2010. She also traced his phone number to shopping malls in Southern California where fraudulent transactions took place. Other affected credit card banks included HSBC, Citibank and Target National Bank.

SOURCE via CNET