Sacramento Couple Sentenced for Mail Fraud and Identity Theft

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Roderick Rigmaiden, 37, and his wife Onjale Nettles, 33, both of Sacramento, were sentenced Tuesday to six years and nine months in prison and five years and 11 months in prison, respectively, for mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Rigmaiden and Nettles stole mail, obtained the personal identifying information of others, and then assumed these victims’ identities to fraudulently purchase and finance almost $250,000 worth of cars from various auto dealerships in the Sacramento area, in the Bay Area, and in Orange County. Rigmaiden was a prolific mail thief and is tied to numerous postal burglaries—of postal boxes, of apartment complex mailboxes, and of mail trucks. During a search of their home, investigators found tens of thousands of pieces of stolen mail, as well as postal keys, key making equipment, and a credit card imprinter.

Rigmaiden and Nettles used stolen identities to fraudulently purchase and finance at least seven cars (and attempt an eighth) from auto dealerships. The vehicle purchases were typically accomplished by providing a down payment in the form of cash, check, or other monetary instrument, with the remainder of the purchase price secured by an auto loan. The monetary instruments presented for the down payment typically turned out to be fraudulent, and no payments were ever made towards the auto loans.

This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the California Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliot C. Wong prosecuted the case.