Two Oregon men get prison for identity theft operation.

Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard

Two men were sentenced to prison Friday for running what police describe as an increasingly common pyramid-style organization of identity theft.

Mark Edward Gailey, 41, of Springfield, acted as the "converter" in the operation. He gathered identity information from stolen mail brought to him by others and from other sources - including credit applications by car buyers at a dealership where he once worked as a salesman, according to police and court records.

His accomplice, Kamron Ward Saar, 33, of Albany, acted as the "collector." He collected information from Gailey to create fake identity papers and counterfeit checks.

The men then recruited "passers," people who passed bad checks using fake identity papers created by the converter and collector. The cash derived from the deal was split between the parties, Eugene Police Detective Doug Jordan said.

By having others work for them, Gailey and Saar were insulated from check-passing activities that might lead to their arrest. However, they were thwarted when an alert store owner recognized one of their passers as a customer who had previously used a bad check in his store, Jordan said.

The store owner delayed the transaction long enough to summon police. The passer cooperated with police, telling them that Saar had driven him to the store and was parked around the corner.

Search warrants turned up dozens of credit applications from the car dealership where Gailey formerly worked. However, Jordan said the men apparently used only one of them before their scheme was broken.

Officers learned that Saar was particularly proud of his ability to produce fake documents, including checks written on the state Employment Division, Department of Transportation and Department of Revenue, Jordan said.

Saar, who has prior convictions for theft and methamphetamine possession, faced 160 charges of identity theft and struck a deal with Deputy Lane County District Attorney Erik Hasselman.

By pleading guilty to 10 counts, Saar was sentenced to five years and five months.

Gailey, who has a more extensive record of burglary, theft, forgery, car theft and robbery, also pleaded guilty to 10 counts for a sentence of seven years in prison. Both men are eligible for a prison program that could shave about three years off their sentences if state prison officials allow it.

Lane County Circuit Judge Gregory Foote told both that the community is "sick and tired of people like you."

"Every one of these transactions represents a victim whose financial affairs are screwed up for five years," Foote said, noting that the law allows a mandatory 13-month sentence for each one in cases of repeat offenders.

"I promise you. You come back to my courtroom, and I will give you the maximum sentence," Foote said.

Gailey said, "I would like to express remorse to the community and any victims I may have caused any problems."

But Foote rejected the apology.

"It would be nice if I could believe you. But I don't. You have no credibility," he said. "You come back to my courtroom, I'll put you away forever. Count on it."