Springfield woman pleads guilty to forgery, credit card theft, stealing mail

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)

A Springfield, Mo., woman responsible for mail thefts from at least 40 victims in three counties, pleaded guilty in federal court today.

Lisa Beatrice Gee, 29, of Springfield, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to passing a forged check, credit card fraud and stealing mail.

By pleading guilty today, Gee admitted that she was in possession of stolen mail between Jan. 8 and March 17, 2016. When Gee was arrested on March 17, 2016, she was in possession of mail stolen by herself, or others at her direction, from at least 40 different individuals in Greene, Christian and Polk Counties. Gee admitted that she took checks, credit cards, Social Security cards and personal identification cards belonging to those mail theft victims. Gee used the contents of the stolen mail to engage in fraudulent criminal acts.

Gee admitted that she fraudulently conducted financial transactions with credit cards, debit cards, identification cards and personal identification numbers. Gee also passed a forged check on Jan. 23, 2016. Gee altered the check, which had been mailed from one person to another, to make it payable to a third person and deposited the check in that person’s bank account. Shortly thereafter, Gee withdrew the same amount of money from the account in the form of ATM cash withdrawals.

Under federal statutes, Gee is subject to a sentence of up to 30 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department, the Nixa, Mo., Police Department and the Ozark, Mo., Police Department.