Santa Rosa woman sent to prison for identity theft

A Santa Rosa woman found with hundreds of pieces of stolen mail was sent to prison for eight years Thursday after she was convicted of identity theft.

Teresa Goode, 32, was arrested in August on suspicion of identity theft crimes, including stealing a man’s tax refund check from his mailbox earlier in the year. She had deposited the check into a bank account she opened using another stolen identity, later withdrawing the money, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office.

At the time of the arrest, Sonoma County deputies said they found forged checks and stolen IDs and mail in her home. Goode already was on felony probation for a previous conviction for cashing a stolen forged check, deputies said.

While on bail on those offenses in November, Goode was pulled over for a traffic violation. Law enforcement officials found in the car “hundreds of pieces of stolen mail inside several bags,” the District Attorney’s Office said. Authorities located bank statements, checks, credit cards, identification cards and mail containing personal identity information of nearly 200 victims, prosecutors said.

Goode pleaded guilty to seven felony charges in February. She also admitted to an enhancement for committing the crimes while out on bail, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

She was sentenced by Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite.