Two Men Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Identity Theft

Two men have been sentenced to state prison after being busted for running an identify theft and fraud ring that ended after they were spotted at the Tanforan and led police on a foot chase through .

San Mateo Superior Court Judge Lisa Novak sentenced Jose Leva, 35, to four years in state prison Thursday. The other man, Guillermo Mina, 38, was also sentenced to four years in state prison in February. Both men pleaded no contest to multiple felony charges, including grand theft, identity theft and credit card fraud.

A third suspect escaped, the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office said.

The identity theft ring came to end in October 2010 when several clerks at the Sears store became suspicious of the three men and called police.

According to court records, Leva, Mina and the third suspect would approach women in a café or hotel well dressed in slacks and blazers. One of the suspects would distract the woman while another would steal her purse.

The men would then take the victims’ credit cards and go on elaborate shopping sprees, court records show, buying thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, including iPads, iPods and other electronic equipment.

On the October day the men were spotted, police chased them through Golden Gate National Cemetery and caught one man after he became enmeshed in a barb wire fence. Police tazed the other man.

Leva was ordered to pay more than $13,000 in restitution to five of the victims. Mina was ordered to pay more than $32,000 in restitution to victims.