A Ponoka man who pleaded guilty to identity theft-related charges has been given two years in jail.
Gregory Thomas Allen, 36, was sentenced on Jan. 7, at the Wetaskiwin Court of Justice.
Allen was charged with 11 offences stemming from an RCMP investigation in August, 2023.
A victim in Smoky Lake, Alta., had reported multiple credit cards had been taken out in their name. A vehicle had also been purchased using their identity.
The Smoky Lake RCMP identified Allen as a suspect and in December, 2023, RCMP officers from Ponoka and Smoky Lake executed a search warrant at 54 St. and 54 Ave. in Ponoka.
Officers allegedly found fabricated credit cards, printers with blank cheques loaded in them, documents with other individuals’ personal information including driver’s licences, stolen property, and a firearm with an altered serial number and other weapons.
Allen was initially charged with 12 offences, including identification theft and identification fraud and possession of stolen property over $5,000.
He pleaded guilty to several to some of the charges on the first day of his trial, Dec. 2, 2024, at the Ponoka Court of Justice.
Allen was sentenced to 480 days for fraud over 5,000, 60 days for possessing identity information, 90 days for unauthorized possession of a firearm, and 90 days for making, having or dealing in instruments for forging or falsifying credit cards.
The eight other charges were withdrawn.
Allen was previously convicted of identity theft offences in 2021 and was sentenced to 240 days in jail and 12 months’ probation.
