ID thief gets 10 years’ probation

An Austin woman who sold false IDs to a confidential informant last fall was sentenced for felony identity theft.

Sarah Ann Rojas, 32, was sentenced to 10 years’ supervised probation and 80 hours of community service.

A confidential informant first met with a person on Aug. 23, 2011, about purchasing false identification, such as birth certificates and social security cards, according to the court complaint. The complaint then states the informant went to meet with that same person, who did not show. The informant was then told to meet with a woman, Rojas.

The complaint says Rojas showed the informant an example of a Texas birth certificate and said she could sell pairs of birth certificates and social security cards for $800. Detectives watched Rojas and discovered she lived at the 1700 block of Third Avenue NW and would be moving to the 600 block of First Avenue NW.

Detectives arranged for the informant to meet Rojas at McDonald’s, where Rojas sold the informant the documents. Police arrested Rojas and found other false documents, as well. Authorities got a search warrant to another residence where they found Texas birth certificates, a U.S. social security card, a Minnesota ID, handwritten notes and a notebook with multiple names and social security numbers.

According to the complaint, Rojas said the informant was the first person to whom she ever sold identification and did so to buy clothes for her kids.

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