An image of several fake driver’s licenses and financial transaction cards found by police. They have a photo of Ryan M. Teechey, but few names of the victims and other information.
United States District Court for the District of Idaho
A “prolific identity thief” used stolen information to buy a $19,000 travel trailer from a Boise dealer that he turned into a mobile unit for producing false identifications and phony credit cards, prosecutors said.
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Ryan M. Tichy, 43, of Seattle, was sentenced to 7½ years in prison Thursday, March 16, in federal court in Boise, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Idaho said in a news release.
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According to the release and court documents, including the plea agreement:
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Tichy stole the identities of numerous people from May 2018 through November 2020. He equipped the travel trailer and a cargo trailer to serve as identity-theft labs.
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He used stolen information to “create false identification documents, open credit accounts, obtain loans, take over existing credit accounts and make purchases” worth between $95,000 and $150,000 in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Nevada. The fraudulently obtained data included names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and account numbers.
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In March and April 2019, he used a fake driver’s license that he’d created and went to Bretz RV & Marine in Boise, where he impersonated someone with the initials J.B. He submitted a credit application and bought an Aspen Trail travel trailer, which cost over $19,000.
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When federal authorities served a search warrant in December 2020, they discovered the lab inside the cargo trailer. It contained computers, printers and other equipment for producing counterfeit identity cards.
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Investigators also found “foils, blank stock for driver’s licenses, an embosser, a card punch, printers, counterfeit driver’s licenses in various stages of completion, and counterfeit credit cards.”
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In the travel trailer from Bretz, authorities “recovered a metal card punch, mail and paperwork belonging to numerous other people, a point-of-sale terminal, handwritten notes with personally identifying information, counterfeit identification cards, laminate, foil, and cards.”
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“Mr. Tichy is a prolific identity thief who victimized dozens of individuals and businesses after cutting off his ankle monitor while under federal supervised release following his time spent in prison for prior identify-theft related offenses,” said Gail S. Ennis, inspector general for the Social Security Administration.
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Idaho Chief District Judge David Nye sentenced Tichy to 90 months in federal prison on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
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Idaho Statesman Business and Local Government Editor David Staats contributed.
