Man sentenced to 10 months for ID fraud

BANGOR – An Austin, Texas, man was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to 10 months in prison for using stolen identities in 2000 to obtain instant credit and charge more than $30,000 of merchandise in three Maine cities.

Chih Chiang Liang, 27, a permanent resident alien who is a native of China, also was sentenced to three years of supervised released and was ordered to pay $23,680 in restitution.

Liang also faces possible deportation after his release from prison.

U.S. District Judge John Woodcock ordered that Liang report to federal prison Aug. 1.

“This court has little sympathy for those who steal other’s identities,” the judge said in handing down the sentence.

Liang faced up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Under the federal sentencing guidelines, the recommended sentence was between 10 and 16 months.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gail Malone recommended Liang be sentenced to 10 months.

Liang’s attorney, Ben Florey of Austin, Texas, urged that his client be sentenced to probation so that he could continue to work to pay restitution and help support his parents.

Liang, who works as a sushi chef at a restaurant in Austin that is owned by a relative, “cooperated with investigators and has been a law-abiding citizen since he learned he was being investigated more than five years ago,” Florey said.

“I know I shouldn’t be doing this type of stuff,” Liang told the court in English. “I want to do good and work to be a good citizen.”

Liang pleaded guilty in November in Bangor federal court to one count each of wire fraud, the use of false Social Security numbers and identity theft – three of the nine counts on which he was indicted in May 2005. Six other charges, including one count of conspiracy, were dismissed at Monday’s sentencing.

Liang traveled to Maine in October 2000 with three other Asian men. They visited retail stores in Bangor, Auburn and Portland, using fake New York driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers.

They visited the same stores, filled out similar applications and falsely stated that they worked at a New York paging firm. After the credit was authorized, they purchased jewelry, clothing, electronics and other items, according to court documents.

Stores where they pulled the scam included Sears, Filene’s, J.C. Penney, Kay Jewelers, and Day’s Jewelers. They attempted to obtain credit at two other jewelry stores, but were thwarted by alert employees.

Liang and another man dropped much of the merchandise off at a house in Flushing, N.Y., where Ray Chen helped them unload it, according to court documents. Chen, identified in court documents as a “car dealer in Flushing, N.Y.,” also helped them obtain the fake identifications.

One other man, Gang Xu Xie, 31, of Nevada was charged in Maine in the incident. Xie, who drove the other three men to Maine, pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of stolen goods. He was sentenced in June 2005 in U.S. District Court in Bangor to three years probation, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and $7,228 in restitution.

The three other men allegedly involved in the scheme have not been found, Malone said Monday.