Pubdate: Mon, 30 May 2005
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2005 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Sean Kelly, Denver Post Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

DRUG USERS BANK ON YOU

More and More, Meth Addicts Turn to Check Forgery, ID Theft to Pay For
Their Habit

Stealing identities and counterfeiting checks are the new and
increasingly popular methods of making money for users of
methamphetamine and other drugs.

"It's huge," said Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Bob Brown.
"It's not just growing, it's humongous already."

Debra Jo Mellinger worked hard, when she wasn't sleeping. The admitted
methamphetamine user would stay up for days straight on the drug,
meticulously forging and brazenly cashing checks to support her habit.
She was arrested last year and was convicted last month.

Forgery is the latest part of the meth lifestyle, authorities say,
joining paranoia, mood swings, malnutrition, tooth loss and
sleeplessness.

"Those cases are a plague upon us these days," said Dennis Hall,
senior deputy district attorney in the 1st Judicial District, which
includes Jefferson and Gilpin counties. "It's really a lifestyle for
these folks."

Last month, Aurora police broke up a massive ring accused of forging
checks. A grand jury on April 21 indicted 16 people on 97 counts,
alleging racketeering, computer crime, theft, burglary, forgery and
aggravated motor vehicle theft.

In 2003, the ringleader of a check-forging ring was sentenced to 32
years in prison for his role in counterfeiting more than $100,000 in
checks across the metro area.

Investigators said the crimes all have one motive: drug
money.

"Drugs and identity theft are like two peas in a pod," said Jefferson
County District Attorney Scott Storey.

The costs to victims and society are staggering. Last year, nearly
250,000 people nationwide had their identities stolen. Colorado ranked
fifth in identity theft per capita, ahead of Florida, New York and
Illinois.

For an average victim, it takes six months and about $6,000 to clear a
negative credit history, according to federal statistics.

For stores accepting even one fraudulent $500 check a week, the losses
add up fast, Hall said.

Hall said nearly all the check forgers have a similar method of
operation: They use one computer program, typically forge payroll
checks and cash them at grocery stores.

Jullie Evans, lead investigator for King Soopers, said one man was
able to make $200,000 on forged checks at various groceries from
October to February. King Soopers requires fingerprints for cashing
checks, but many forgers coat their fingers in super glue to try to
defeat the system.

"It's a phenomenal moneymaking business. Basically, they're self-
employed millionaires at a cost to everybody else," Evans said.

Many steal outgoing mail from mailboxes, called "red-flagging" because
of the red flag on residential mailboxes.

They steal checkbooks. Or they dig through bank trash. Even some
shredded documents aren't safe. Many meth users, awake for days,
meticulously reconstruct poorly shredded information.

Storey said he hopes for more cooperation across jurisdictions,
perhaps through existing drug task forces. And although Storey said he
would like to see a statewide identity theft statute, prosecutors are
already using an old weapon to combat the new crimes: going after
ringleaders with racketeering charges that target organized crime
rings. The Colorado Organized Crime Control Act covers such criminal
enterprises by drug rings, including computer crime and fraud, making
them class 2 felonies. The result is a lengthy prison sentence for a
conviction.

In Jefferson County last year, authorities busted a ring of
methamphetamine users who were printing checks at home.

According to court records, Mellinger, 40, was part of the ring. It
was broken up after her boyfriend, John Koontz, was arrested trying to
cash a counterfeit check at a Cripple Creek casino.

The checks were typically less than $500, because the counterfeiters
thought that would attract less attention. The ring passed about
$50,000 in bad checks, authorities said.

Mellinger admitted to investigators that she had a bad drug problem.
Other members of the counterfeiting ring said Mellinger would stay up
three or four days straight on meth and then sleep for two days. The
other members explained how associates would go "Dumpster diving"
through bank trash, looking for personal financial information. They
would steal purses at bars. Mellinger even had several different
hairpieces so she could change her looks.

Mellinger was found guilty last month of racketeering. Forgery,
criminal possession of a forged instrument, theft, computer crime,
criminal impersonation and distribution or possession of a controlled
substance are among the offenses making up the racketeering charge.

She was sentenced May 23 to 16 years in prison.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake