She stole her sister’s identity for unemployment, feds say. Now NC woman faces prison
A 34-year-old woman accused of using the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles to steal her family member’s identity has been sentenced to prison.
Melanie Alecia Ruona was given two years and four months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release after she pleaded guilty to charges of identity theft and fraud earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of North Carolina said in a news release on Wednesday, Dec. 8.
Ruona, who is from Winston-Salem, has been in custody since her arrest and could not be reached for comment. A public defender representing her did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
Prosecutors charged Ruona with six counts of aggravated identity theft, mail fraud and false representation of a Social Security number on April 1.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the charges, investigators first flagged potential misuse of the N.C. DMV’s website in October 2020. Agents from N.C. License and Theft Bureau said individuals were using personally identifiable information to apply for changes of address and to receive new driver’s licenses in other people’s names.
The DMV told federal investigators these false applications have resulted in at least 500 fraudulent North Carolina driver’s licenses being issued.
In a statement to McClatchy News regarding the case, a spokesperson for the N.C. Department of Transportation said the DMV is “committed to protecting the personal information entrusted to us by North Carolinians.”
“We are continually looking for ways to mitigate potential vulnerabilities in our systems and stay ahead of those that seek to do harm,” the spokesperson said. “Our License & Theft Bureau diligently pursues every lead and with the cooperation of local, state and federal partners seeks to bring all perpetrators to justice.”
Prosecutors said two fraudulent requests for a change of address were submitted to the DMV in 2020 for people in Winston-Salem and Burlington. In both cases, the requests reportedly listed Ruona’s home address in Winston-Salem as the updated address.
The DMV then mailed two real driver’s licenses in those individuals’ names to Ruona, according to the affidavit.
Ruona is accused of using one of the driver’s licenses to purchase $2,892 worth of merchandise at the furniture store Conn’s HomePlus with a line of credit. Prosecutors said video footage from the store on that day shows Ruona and what appears to be her husband “seated and filling out an application for financing.”
According to the government, Ruona used the same driver’s license to apply for unemployment.
Law enforcement became aware of the alleged fraud in January when the victim, identified in court filings as D.R.F., called the Burlington Police Department to report someone else had been receiving unemployment checks in her name.
She said she had tried to file for unemployment online and was told there was already an account in her name set up in October 2020 — around the same time someone also submitted a change of address request in her name to the DMV, prosecutors said. The victim also learned she had an outstanding bill for $4,000 at Conn’s HomePlus.
D.R.F. told law enforcement “she suspects that her sister (Ruona) may be the perpetrator.”
Ruona was arrested April 8, court filings show. The government asked that she be detained pending trial, which a magistrate judge granted. A grand jury indicted her on May 4, and she pleaded guilty to one count each of aggravated identity theft and mail fraud in August.
As part of her sentencing, the judge ordered Ruona to pay $7,005 in restitution.
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 12:34 PM with the headline "She stole her sister’s identity for unemployment, feds say. Now NC woman faces prison."
