Hennepin County jurors convicted a West St. Paul man on Saturday of two counts of identity theft, then resumed deliberations on Monday and concluded that he was a career criminal.
That determination could result in a "tough sentence," according to Chuck Laszewski, a spokesman for the county attorney's office.
Prosecutors will ask that Donald Allen Ellis, 56, receive a 20-year sentence, the maximum, Laszewski said. Judge Kerry Meyer set sentencing for Oct. 1.
Ellis was arrested in February by county sheriff's detectives and charged with conducting a large-scale crime operation that involved credit card fraud, theft and counterfeit checks. He had been out on bail on similar ID theft charges.
Ellis was accused of breaking into cars across the metro area and stealing credit cards. Assistant County Attorney Diane Krenz said he then went to stores such as Target and bought gift cards.
Ellis also recruited accomplices, including drug abusers and homeless people, to buy the gift cards with stolen credit cards, Krenz said. If he was caught using the gift cards, "He could say, 'I didn't do it,'" she said.
Laszewski wrote in a news release that Ellis was caught in October during a routine traffic stop by Minneapolis-St. Paul airport police. The driver did not have a valid driver's license, and Ellis was in the back seat. The car was impounded, and when police searched the vehicle, they found a purse belonging to a woman who had reported it stolen from her car two days before.
The Sheriff's Office interviewed the driver, and she explained her role in the scheme. Dozens of victims were located. Authorities then searched Ellis' house and found numerous credit cards, checks, driver's licenses and other evidence, according to Laszewski.
