Citrus Heights Couple Pleads Guilty to Identification Theft, Possession of Stolen Mail

By Patch Staff

A Citrus Heights couple pleaded guilty to identification theft, credit card fraud and three counts of possession of stolen mail, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Matthew Ray Ausborn, 32, and Christina Leanne Barrios, 29, pleaded guilty Tuesday.

The two were arrested in July 2011 after sheriff deputies found them asleep inside an idling car on a residential street in Carmichael, according to court documents. After searching the vehicle, deputies found a small amount of methamphetamine, about 400 pieces of stolen mail, which involved more than 250 victims, and multiple identification documents for other people, checks, financial documents, blank check paper, a laptop and handwritten notes with personal identifying information, the justice department reports.

Federal agents searched a Sacramento storage unit Ausborn rented on July 19, 2011 and also found more than 100 pieces of stolen mail, which involved more than 70 victims, financial documents, handwritten notes with identifying information and other items, according to the justice department.   

During the federal investigation and after the couple was released on bond, the two fled to Oregon and were arrested July 20, 2011 on unrelated state charges in Medford, just north of Ashland, according to court documents.

Ausborn and Barrios each face up to 30 years in prison, a $1.25 million fine, restitution and three years of supervised release. They are scheduled to be sentenced in November.

This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with the assistance of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department. Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rodriguez is prosecuting the case.