Fresno woman facing 30 years in prison after guilty plea in bank fraud, identity theft cases

A Fresno woman who was arrested with thousands of pieces of stolen mail in her apartment and was indicted in October 2021 on 10 counts related to bank fraud and identity theft pleaded guilty on Wednesday.

Bobbi Jo Heiss, 36, is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on Aug. 21, 2023, and faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for bank fraud and a maximum of two years consecutive to any other sentence and a fine of $250,000 for aggravated identity theft.

The actual sentence will be determined at the discretion of the court, after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Heiss from August 2020 to September 2021 stole debit cards, checks, identity documents and banking information in order to make fraudulent purchases, cash checks and open unauthorized lines of credit, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California.

The scheme caused at least $250,000 in actual and attempted loss during that year-long period. In 2021, Heiss presented a check for $57,767 to a car dealership in Fresno with the name and driver’s license number of an identity theft victim in order to purchase a 2017 GMC Sierra.

This cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office Elder Abuse Unit and prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorney Henry Carbajal.

This story was originally published June 22, 2023 at 7:13 AM with the headline "Fresno woman facing 30 years in prison after guilty plea in bank fraud, identity theft cases."