Woman admits to stealing 9 Tri-Cities identities to embezzle thousands

A 45-year-old woman stole thousands in a series of identity theft cases that spanned five months and impacted people across the Tri-Cities.

Now, Jennifer L. Evans of Richland is facing eight and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to nine counts of identity theft and one count to eluding police.

Evans agreed to the exceptional sentence after being caught siphoning money out of bank accounts, getting identifications under false names and opening dozens of credit cards for nine people.

Normally, the most she would have faced would be seven years in prison, but prosecutors and her defense attorney agreed to the exceptional sentence.

They will also recommend a year of probation, drug and alcohol treatment and restitution as part of the sentence.

Prosecutors first charged Evans in connection with an October 2020 theft when she used a credit card under someone else’s name to buy $551 in merchandise from JC Penny’s. She also stole $1,300 out of the same woman’s bank account.

Evans used stolen mail to get the woman’s identity.

This and other identity theft investigations led to a search warrant being issued for Evan’s Jadwin Avenue apartment, court documents said.

Once inside, police turned up evidence of several other identity theft cases.

When detectives asked about the identity thefts, she said she “learned the scheme” for creating IDs from a friend who was good with computers. She used virtual private networks (VPNs) and a “box” to hide her internet address.

Beyond accessing bank accounts and creating credit cards, she also tried to change the mailing addresses for her victims and applied for identification from the state.

It’s not clear how she got a hold of all the personal information that she used, but she did tell one investigator that she had a book with “random people’s” names in them, court documents said.

Identity Theft

The earliest case was linked to a Prosser woman, who reported in July 2020 that her identity was used to apply for several credit accounts, court documents said. Evans also changed information on her email and tried to direct mail to the Jadwin Avenue apartment.

When police searched Evans’ apartment, they found several credit reports in the Prosser woman’s name.

The next case she was tied to happened on July 23, 2020, when she drove a man to the HAPO Credit Union where he tried to take more than $5,000 out of an account, court documents said.

The same victim had someone try to open more than 30 credit card accounts in his name.

Evans admitted to helping steal the man’s identity. A search of the apartment turned up several financial documents and other information tied to the man.

Evans stole more than $1,600 from a woman’s bank account in September, and she used the money to pay for her stealing another man’s identity by changing of his driver’s license address and a trailer to her apartment building.

She also allegedly added her name to his Costco account.

The thefts began speeding up in October when she opened an account at a Richland furniture store using another victim’s name and charged more than $10,000 to buy furniture. The furniture was delivered to her apartment building

The next theft was discovered when the employee at an Oxford House noticed that the account for the Richland home was overdrawn, court documents said.

Oxford Houses are shared drug- and alcohol-free residences. They are designed so people recovering from substance abuse can have a place where they can support each other.

The employee discovered that nearly $2,500 had been charged to the account from Charter Communications, Synchrony Bank and the Washington State Department of Licensing. The Synchrony Bank charges were related to the furniture store fraud while the Charter Communications bill was linked to Evans’ boyfriend.

Later in the month she allegedly opened a credit card in another woman’s name and spent $15 at Barnes and Noble.

She was also connected with a public defender who had his bank and retirement account accessed. She tried to take out $5,000 from his account, and made more than $1,300 in other fraudulent charges.

Then on Nov. 12, 2020, a bank manager called police and said that someone in a white Honda was trying to take money out of the attorney’s account.

While the manager couldn’t identify the person in the car, she knew it wasn’t the attorney. The address on the license had been changed to Evans’ apartment.

When Kennewick police arrived, they saw the Honda pulling away. The officer signaled for it to stop, but Evans pulled onto Edison Street going 20 mph over the posted speed limit.

The officer called off the chase because of safety concerns, but found the car at a Filmore Street home. The car was registered to Evans and her boyfriend.