A Durango woman with a history of identity theft has been arrested again on suspicion of using other people’s personal information to create fraudulent credit accounts to fund her mini-shopping sprees, according to court records.
Sandra Morris, 31, was being held Tuesday at the La Plata County Jail on $75,000 bail.
La Plata County Judge Martha Minot declined to reduce bail Tuesday, saying Morris is accused of committing the same crimes she was given probation for in 2015, and therefore, presents a danger to the community.
Deputy District Attorney Reid Stewart said Morris has a history of identity theft that dates to at least 2013. During an advisement hearing Tuesday, Stewart argued for keeping bail at $75,000, saying Morris has a propensity for stealing mail, credit card information and people’s personal information to create fraudulent accounts to obtain goods.
She was sentenced to prison for identity theft in a previous case, he said, but the courts reconsidered her sentence and released her on probation. She has since picked up new charges for identity theft, and nothing seems to make her abide by the law, he said.
“I’m at a loss with Ms. Morris,” Stewart said.
She stole mail to obtain checks or people’s account information, according to court records. She received prison time for the mail theft case but was resentenced to probation in December 2015.
According to affidavits filed in La Plata County Combined Courts, Morris has used other people’s financial information to apply for or create accounts at Walmart, Lowe’s, Kohl’s Department Store, American Express, Amazon.com, Victoria’s Secret, Home Shopping Network and others.
In her most recent case, a forensic search of her phone turned up photos of payment cards not belonging to her, according to an affidavit.
Stewart said Morris has worked at Denny’s, Applebee’s, and, most recently, Irish Embassy. She became a manager at Denny’s, which gave her access to employees’ personnel files, which she allegedly used to obtain personal information so she could create accounts in their names, according to court records.
She also may have obtained credit information from customers at Applebee’s, according to amended charges filed in district court.
She is not suspected of stealing information from customers or employees at Irish Embassy, but preventing her from doing so was one of Stewart’s arguments for keeping bail at $75,000.
Phil Brennan, general manager at Irish Embassy, said Morris quit Sunday evening after working at the pub for 10 days.
“I did a reference check, and none of this came to light,” he said.
Morris used her fraudulent accounts to buy fairly mundane items, such as jewelry, cooking pots, makeup, children’s clothing and items from Victoria’s Secret, including perfume and a satin kimono.
shane@durangoherald.com
