March 11, 2005 Media Contact: Jenn Meale Phone: (850) 245-0150

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TALLAHASSEE - Attorney General Charlie Crist today announced that the leader of a Jacksonville mail and identity theft ring has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison. The Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution obtained a guilty plea from Keith Ivey during the middle of a jury trial. Ivey pled guilty to one count of RICO, one count of conspiracy to commit RICO, and numerous counts of criminal use of personal information or identity theft, grand theft and forgery.

An investigation revealed that Ivey, 33, was the leader of an operation in which more than $100,000 in losses occurred between June 2000 and December 2001. Ivey stole mail from apartment complex mailboxes and used the information gathered to steal the identities of more than 100 victims. Armed with the victims' personal information, Ivey established fraudulent credit accounts and forged checks to finance his extravagant lifestyle. Victims were residents of Leon and Duval counties, as well as the state of Georgia.

"This case is a frightening reminder of just how easy it can be to fall victim to identity theft," said Crist. "The invasive act of using mail from someone's personal mailbox to turn them into a victim is almost sinister in nature, and it is fortunate that we have legislation in place that addresses such an aggressive crime."

Other members of the theft ring have already been convicted and sentenced. Among theft rings members who testified against Ivey were former employees of the state Department of Financial Services and the Internal Revenue Service.

The investigation was a joint effort of the U.S. Postal Inspector's Office, the U.S. Secret Service, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The case was prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution.