People v. Plant CA2/1

BACKGROUND

The information filed against Plant alleged that the three charged offenses described above occurred on or about January 31, 2021. The information also alleged that Plant had three prior identity theft convictions under section 530.5.

A. Evidence Presented at Trial Sometime in fall 2020, Christine Villegas, the identity theft victim, renewed her driver’s license online. By early December 2020, she had not received the new driver’s license in the mail and wondered why it was late. In January 2021, she expected to receive her 2020 form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement by mail, but she did not receive that either. In February 2021, Bank of America sent Villegas a loan document related to the purchase of a preowned Dodge Challenger from a Nissan dealership located on Van Nuys Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. She contacted the dealership to report that she had not purchased the car. As reflected in the retail installment sale contract executed on January 31, 2021, the price of the car was $28,900, and the repayment obligation required 72 monthly payments of $589.26. Villegas confirmed during her trial testimony that the driver’s license and social security numbers listed on the…