Source: Cleveland
Rhonda Turpin is back in prison for running a massive identity-theft scam as audacious as it was sophisticated. Turpin, of Shaker Heights, led a ring of characters who could have come from a street hustler’s version of “Ocean’s 11.” There was the friend at a mortgage company who provided credit reports. There’s a mysterious computer whiz, still at large, who created the best fake IDs that investigators have seen.

And then there are a few crackheads who, after Turpin gave them a shower, shave and sharp suit, stole identities from office workers in Independence, Beachwood and downtown Cleveland. Before the scam unraveled in 2005, Turpin used the stolen identities to get nearly $300,000 in fraudulent bank loans, checks and tax returns. Turpin, 48, even ran the ring from prison for nearly a year.

Turpin now is serving a 15-year prison sentence. The last of 10 people found guilty for their roles in the identity-theft ring was sentenced last week. Kathy Davie, 45, Turpin’s partner in crime and in life, was sentenced to five years in prison by U.S. District Judge John Adams. Davie got a reduced sentence because she cooperated with investigators and provided crucial testimony against Turpin. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kern, who prosecuted the case against Turpin, said she ran the identity-theft ring as if it were a full-time job.