TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Tampa man was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple criminal counts of identity theft. Roise Arsis was arrested in 2006 after local, state and federal law enforcement determined he had engaged in a scheme to use the personal identification information of 6 different individuals to open credit card accounts at various retail stores in Hillsborough, Polk, Pinellas, Osceola, Orange and Seminole counties. He was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

Arsis, 35, opened the accounts using counterfeit Florida driver's licenses with his picture, but the names, addresses and other personal information belonging to his victims. He then used those accounts to purchase more than $88, 000 worth of merchandise during a four-month period. Arsis was arrested by law enforcement officers from the Lakeland Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Secret Service.

Judge Steven Selph of the Polk County Circuit Court sentenced Arsis, who had no prior criminal record, to nine years in prison after Arsis pleaded guilty to organized scheme to defraud and six counts of criminal use of personal identification. He must also reimburse the state $5,000 for the cost of investigation and prosecution.