IT'S CURTAINS FOR THIS IDENTITY-THEFT SCAM.

Byline: EUGENE TONG Staff Writer

BURBANK -- It's not exactly the Hollywood ending the mastermind of an identity-theft ring wrote for himself when he penned a screenplay based on his criminal exploits.

The curtain fell Thursday on his accomplices, Yina Cox, 20, and Alvin Richards, 28, who were sentenced to up to a year in jail at Burbank Superior Court.

The half-siblings had pleaded guilty in September to multiple counts of identity theft and check fraud for aiding ringleader Santino Hamilton, who had adapted their scam into the 115-page screenplay ``Insufficient Funds,'' a tale of a grocery store clerk's initiation into the world of forgeries and other scams.

Police said Hamilton, 33, of Whittier used private information pilfered by Cox, a bank teller at Kinecta Credit Union's Hawthorne branch, to forge checks at the siblings' Lomita apartment.

``She got birthdays, account numbers, mothers' maiden names, Social Security numbers -- everything that you need to steal someone's identity,'' said Detective Lisa Muzquiz of the Glendale Police Department's Financial Crimes Unit.

Authorities were on Hamilton's trail after he cashed a phony payroll check -- $4,850 from Glendale Adventist Medical Center -- at the Glendale Citibank in January.

Police arrested the trio in May. A search of the Lomita apartment turned up more than 1,000 copies of real checks, along with Hamilton's bid for Hollywood stardom, Muzquiz said.

In the script, Hamilton's alter ego, Alvin ``Kaos'' Hamilton, was caught, but he only did 50 days in jail. It ends with him driving off into the horizon with his partner in crime -- a bank teller -- and the line: ``Let's make some money.''

The real Hamilton, who was convicted in 1996 of burglary and check fraud, got seven years in state prison when he was sentenced in September after pleading guilty to seven counts of identity theft and forgery charges.

Cox, who appeared in court in handcuffs, was sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty to 45 felony counts. Richards pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud and received 180 days in jail. Both also were placed on five years' probation.

Attorneys for Cox and Richards declined to comment.

Deputy District Attorney Aaron Singer had asked for the maximum sentence -- up to five years in prison -- for Cox because she betrayed her position of trust as a bank teller.

``She's the one taking all the information of the people and passing it on,'' he said. ``We need to send a message.''

Pat Bressi, 50, one of 27 victims named in the case, testified that she still worries about where her personal information ended up.

``I did nothing wrong, yet I've been sentenced because Yina Cox decided to steal every bit of information about myself and my husband,'' she said. ``Stand up for the victims ... and hold (the trio) accountable for their actions.''

Still, Judge Patrick J. Hegarty granted leniency because of their ages and the fact they had no criminal record. Also, there were no actual financial losses because police halted the scam before it was carried out.

``I think there's a chance to rehabilitate you,'' Hegarty said. ``If you come back before me for any reason ... you will go to state prison.''

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

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