U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced an Indiana man caught with dozens of fake and stolen IDs in Warren County, Missouri to four years in prison and ordered him to pay $9,825 in restitution to victims.
The prison sentence will run consecutive to any sentence Kevin Sparks, 41, of Indiana, receives for pending state charges in Texas and Indiana.
Sparks was in a 2012 GMC Acadia on Nov. 25, 2021, when the driver, Debra Blake, was pulled over by sheriff’s deputies in Warren County, Missouri. Sparks gave deputies a counterfeit driver’s license and a stolen Social Security card. Deputies then found 11 other counterfeit driver’s licenses with Sparks’ picture and other people’s names. They also found more than 43 genuine driver’s licenses, passports, Social Security cards, and credit or debit cards that had been stolen from fitness centers and other locations in Colorado and Arizona, as well as notebooks listing personal identifying information belonging to other people.
Sparks and Blake used the stolen IDs and personal information to open new credit and debit accounts or take over existing accounts to get cash or buy merchandise.
Sparks used one of the stolen IDs to buy the GMC in Arizona. Police also found surveying equipment that had been stolen from a storage unit in Arizona and electronic equipment that had been used to produce the counterfeit driver’s licenses.
In a letter to Judge Autrey, one victim said his life was upended when Sparks took over his cell phone, bank accounts, email, and investment accounts and tried to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars. Another, a disabled U.S. Army veteran, someone who spent years opening credit accounts after a home burglary.
“This sentence is a great example of what can be accomplished when federal and local law enforcement agencies collaborate,” said acting Special Agent in Charge Taekuk Cho for HSI Kansas City. “Coming together in these types of joint operations to arrest and disrupt illegal activities are for the betterment and safety of us all. I couldn’t be prouder of the strong relationships we have built with our law enforcement partners and applaud all of those involved for their efforts.”
Sparks pleaded guilty on May 31 to three felonies: interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, interstate transportation of stolen property, and possession of five or more identification documents.
Blake, 36, pleaded guilty on July 19 to possession of five or more identification documents and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle. She is scheduled to be sentenced on October 18.
Homeland Security Investigations and the Warren County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry prosecuted the case.
