EX-CON FACES PRISON SENTENCE 32 YEARS POSSIBLE FOR IDENTITY THEFT CRIMES.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - A Lancaster ex-convict faces up to 32 years in prison for using other people's financial information to illegally obtain cell phones, phone service and laptop computers.

Jack Sirman, 35, was arrested after sheriff's deputies found him and a woman parked in a car at night in the desert north of Lancaster with a pouch of methamphetamine, a drug pipe, and a bag containing other people's credit cards, driver's licenses and fraudulent checks.

``It's a pattern that's becoming obvious up here: Drug users and other low-life are using people's ID information as a means of exchange for drugs. They steal mail looking for credit cards and other information and take it to dealers who use it to do ID theft,'' Deputy District Attorney John Evans said.

Sirman was convicted Wednesday of 19 counts, including forgery of checks, receiving stolen property, identity theft, unlawful possession of credit card information, grand theft, and possession of methamphetamine.

The Antelope Valley Superior Court jury deliberated about 4 1/2 hours before reaching its verdict, Evans said. Sirman was being held without bail and is scheduled to be sentenced June 3.

One of the victims was computer maker Dell.

``He took a man's personal checking account, established a line of credit over the computer with Dell, ordered merchandise using the other person's information, and received two laptop computers, a laser printer and things like printer cartridges, inks and replacements,'' Evans said.

Sirman has a prior conviction of residential burglary from 1988, and also a 1999 conviction for possession of methamphetamine and a 2002 conviction for passing a fraudulent check.

Sirman must serve 80 percent of his sentence before he can be paroled because of the burglary conviction, Evans said.

The defense argued that the woman Sirman was with when he was arrested in November 2004 was the actual ringleader, Evans said. The woman testified against him at the trial.

``There was too much evidence against him,'' Evans said. ``There were key rings found in his car. One had a PO box key on it. Correspondence from phony accounts came through there.''

Sirman's victims included business and four people whose financial or credit information he stole to use or try to use to obtain merchandise illegally, Evans said.

The total loss was difficult to determine.

``One of the things he would do is create phony checks and negotiate them either for merchandise or cash. We don't know for a fact how many of these checks passed,'' Evans said. ``We don't know everything he's done. Putting this case together was like putting together documents for a tax appointment.''

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com