BEMIDJI -- Two individuals were charged on Tuesday for their role in the theft of mail in Beltrami and Hubbard counties.
Sean David Adams, 28, and Monica Ann Spencer, 32, both of Bemidji, were charged with transaction card fraud, a felony, on Tuesday in Beltrami County District Court.
Adams and Spencer both confessed to going through rural mailboxes and having written checks to businesses in Bemidji, Fargo, Grand Forks, Detroit Lakes and other cities, the complaint said.
According to the criminal complaints, both Adams and Spencer confessed to going through rural mailboxes and stealing credit cards and checks.
The investigation began when a man reported on Aug. 28 that his wallet had been stolen, the complaint said.
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Sheriff's deputies looked into the case and began contacting several businesses where the man's credit card reportedly had been used, including a couple of Bemidji area department stores and a gas station, the complaint said.
Deputies were able to identify Adams and Spencer as the suspects after they tracked down the license plate at the gas station where the credit card had been used and looking at the surveillance tape, the complaint said.
Spencer also said she had stolen several computers from her office at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and that the computers were at her home, the complaint said.
When a search warrant was executed at Spencer's home, deputies located numerous items that were believed to be purchased with stolen credit cards and checks, including three iPods, clothing, computers, a vacuum cleaner, a bike, shoes, and household items, the complaint said. Also found were three credit cards, a driver's license and a Social Security card in someone else's name, the complaint said.
The computers from the Bureau of Indian Affairs also were recovered, the complaint said.
The Bemidji Pioneer and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
