ID theft ring targeted DeKalb County bank accounts
SYCAMORE — DeKalb County Sheriff's Police said they have broken up what Sheriff Roger Scott describes as "a major identity-theft ring" that stole between $50,000 and $100,000 from the bank accounts of a dozen county residents, and may have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from victims throughout the state.
Sheriff's Office Detective Sarah Frazier said three suspected members of the ring, all residents of Chicago's South Side, were arrested this week, based on information generated by detectives in DeKalb and Champaign counties.
She said Kevin Mickle, 32, was arrested by her at the Sycamore courthouse as he went there to answer a previous charge of identity theft lodged against him in May. His cousin, 36-year-old Sylvester Mickle, was arrested in Vernon Hills by the Illinois State Police. And Victor Mitchell, 45, was arrested in Villa Park under circumstances Frazier declined to explain lest it compromise the continuing investigation.
Scott said the suspects obtained checking account information by looking at legitimate checks written by the victims. The ring members then allegedly printed blank checks with that account information on them, used those checks to buy merchandise, and "fenced" the merchandise for cash.
Scott and Frazier declined to say how the ring was able to view the original checks.
Scott said the first forged-check reports started coming in a year ago. Frazier said that in May, Kevin Mickle was charged with 16 counts of identity theft. But only recently has a pattern been found and other members of the ring implicated, he said.
In the most recent arrests, Mitchell was charged with 11 counts of identity theft. He was released on $3,000 bail pending a court hearing. The Mickles each were charged with six more counts of identity theft. They remained in the DeKalb County Jail in Sycamore Friday, their bail set at $250,000 for Sylvester Mickle and $100,000 for Kevin Mickle.
Frazier said Champaign County also has sworn out a warrant for Kevin's arrest on ID-theft charges, with an additional $100,000 bail attached. She said federal agencies and "numerous other police agencies" worked on the case and more charges may be coming.
Frazier said that in total, the ring is believed to have had more than 50 victims. Most were in northwestern Illinois, she said. But 12 were in Sycamore, Shabbona and other parts of DeKalb County, and some were in the Champaign-Urbana area.
