A federal court judge sentenced a 34-year-old woman on Wednesday to 27 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to charges of credit card fraud and identity theft.
Jasmine Mitchell, of San Pablo, was arrested on May 8 at a Tiburon hotel, along with two other suspects, Roy Kim, 34, and Harley Logsdon, 46, both of San Pablo. She pleaded guilty on Aug. 13 to one count of credit card fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Mitchell, of San Pablo, is the daughter of Artie Mitchell who was fatally shot by his brother Jim Mitchell in 1991. The Mitchell brothers founded the O’Farrell Theater strip club in San Francisco and produced pornographic films.
Jasmine Mitchell admitted to using counterfeit credit cards in someone else’s name in order to get cash advances at the Graton Resort and Casino on Feb. 23, according to her plea agreement. Federal prosecutors said she was found with numerous counterfeit credit cards when she was arrested.
Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies started searching for Mitchell in May in expensive and exclusive hotels in Contra Costa and Marin counties. They discovered she was staying at the luxury locations under assumed names and arrested her outside The Lodge in Tiburon, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies found counterfeit credit cards, cash, and methamphetamine when she was arrested and there were papers in her purse indicating she was preparing to flee the country, sheriff’s officials said.
Both the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security had been investigating Mitchell and Kim in connection with a large-scale identity theft operation. Kim was living with Mitchell in an apartment across the street from the San Pablo Lytton Casino, authorities said.
Lodgson was arrested on May 5 at Mitchell and Kim’s apartment, where sheriff’s detectives found a large-scale clandestine identity theft and credit card fraud operation.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Kim a short time later in a taxicab in Richmond. Mitchell initially evaded capture May 5 after she rammed her car into an unmarked police vehicle and struck a parked car.
In addition to the 27-month prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen ordered Mitchell to be placed on three years of supervised release and to pay restitution to Citibank and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Erin Baldassari, Bay City News
