California Woman Sentenced in Elaborate ID Theft in Glen Ellyn, Wheaton Area

A California woman has been sentenced to nine years in prison for stealing more than $184,000 from as many as 12 victims through an elaborate identity theft scheme, the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.

In late 2012, Pamela Keane, 48, entered banks in Glen Ellyn, Lombard and Wheaton and presented phony California drivers licenses, each bearing the names of her victims, along with Keane's photograph. Keane then withdrew money from victims' bank accounts. She repeated this process on at least 12 occasions with 12 victims, according to the State's Attorney's Office.

Keane’s scheme also included the use of doctored credit cards, which she used to purchase high-end merchandise such as clothing, purses, laptops, iPads, Playstations and other electronic devices. Keane’s scheme came to light on Dec. 6, 2012, when Downers Grove Police were dispatched to a local hotel for an incident in the lobby. During the investigation of this disturbance, officers discovered numerous driver’s licenses bearing Keane’s photograph but with various names.

“Financial crimes such as these can be very difficult to solve,” DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said. “Perpetrators of such schemes are often times very knowledgeable in finances and know how to cover their tracks."

He thanked Assistant State’s Attorney Diane Michalak and State’s Attorney Investigator Dave Zdan for their work on this "complicated case."

On July 30 Keane entered a blind plea of guilty to one count of continuing a financial crimes enterprise, a Class 1 Felony; one count of forgery, a Class 3 Felony; and one count of possession of a counterfeit credit card, a Class 3 Felony. She will be required to serve 50 percent of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.