Michigan Man Sentenced for Fraudulent Use of Social Security Numbers and Aggravated Identity Theft

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced today that on November 25, 2019, Senior United States District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp sentenced Christopher Charles Heinz, age 30, of Romulus, Michigan, to 54 months’ imprisonment, placed him on supervised release for three years, and ordered him to make restitution in the amount of $22,126 for his conviction for the fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and aggravated identity theft.

From December 2017 through June 2018, Heinz and another used stolen identifications of credit worthy individuals to purchase high-end cellphones at retail stores in Kearney, Holdrege, Norfolk, Beatrice, Columbus, Grand Island, Hastings, Ainsworth and O’Neill, Nebraska. Heinz provided counterfeit driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers belonging to actual people to stores to qualify for credit.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Social Security Administration - Office of Inspector General, the Nebraska States Patrol, Sheriff’s Offices of Brown County and Holt County Nebraska and the Police Departments in Lexington, Kearney, Holdrege, Norfolk, Beatrice, Columbus, Grand Island and Hastings.