ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Elenilson Ceron, 25, of Newland, N.C., was sentenced today to 26 months in prison for using stolen identification documents to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger also ordered Ceron to serve two years under court supervision after he is released from prison.
U.S. Attorney King is joined in making today’s announcement by Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which oversees Charlotte.
According to filed documents and today’s court proceedings, in November 2019, Ceron and his co-defendant, Jennifer Pardo, engaged in a scheme to defraud financial institutions by securing loans in the names of identity theft victims. Ceron and Pardo obtained the victims’ personal identifying information (PII) through personal checks, credit cards, medical documents, and other sensitive information the defendants stole from the victims’ mailboxes, homes, and vehicles, or the home computers of friends and family members. Using the stolen PII, the pair opened bank accounts and credit accounts and took out personal loans in the victims’ names.
In this manner, court records show that the defendants obtained at least $6,500 in unlawful proceeds.
Ceron and Pardo pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Pardo was previously sentenced to 30 months in prison for her role in the scheme.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked the USPIS for their investigation.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.