Woman Arrested In Rancho Cordova Pleads Guilty To Identity Theft, Bank Fraud
RANCHO CORDOVA (CBS13) — A woman pled guilty Thursday to a 2018 bank fraud scheme and identity theft after being arrested in Rancho Cordova, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
Candice Nicole Freitas, 32, is a transient in the area and used counterfeit U.S. Postal Service keys to steal mail apartment complex mailboxes throughout the region between April and August 2018, according to court documents.
Participants in the scheme gathered stolen financial and identification information — including government IDs and bank cards — to defraud banks. Scheme participants used stolen bank cards to purchase items and withdraw cash from ATMs in Vacaville, Folsom, Rocklin and Rancho Cordova, officials said.
Freitas and her co-defendant Cody Cannon were arrested Aug. 2, 2018, at their RV parked in a Rancho Cordova hotel parking lot. In the RV and other locations, authorities located stolen mail, checks, at least two fake passports with others' names, multiple stolen and fake California driver's licenses, and at least seven of the counterfeit postal service keys.
Freitas pled guilty to bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and the possession of the counterfeit keys. Cannon pled guilty on Oct. 2, 2019, to the same offenses and was sentenced to over four years in prison.
Freitas is scheduled to be sentenced on May 7 and faces a maximum 30 years in prison and $1 million fine for bank fraud. Officials said Freitas also faces a mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft.
