The recent arrest of a Sierra Vista man marks the end of an investigation into fraud and identity theft that has been active since December 2016, when the first of four related arrests was made.
On Saturday, at about 11:45 a.m. 33-year-old Sierra Vista resident James Mosier was arrested at the Border Patrol checkpoint on North Highway 90 for two failure to appear warrants issued out of the Sierra Vista Police Department. Mosier was a suspect in an active identity theft and fraud investigation. That night, at about 8 p.m. SVPD detectives made contact with Mosier at the Cochise County Jail and filed additional charges.
Mosier has been charged with two counts of identity theft, two counts of fraudulent schemes, forgery, credit card fraud, trafficking in stolen property, possession of a dangerous drug for sale, possession of a dangerous drug, possession of marijuana for sale, and possession of marijuana. The drug-related charges stem from a search warrant served at Mosier’s residence in the 500 block of North 7th Street on Dec. 20, 2016.
Shannon Huston, a 24-year-old Sierra Vista resident, and Deanna Russell, an 18-year-old Sierra Vista resident, were both arrested on Dec. 19, 2016, on charges tied to forging and cashing stolen bank checks taken from residential mailboxes in Sierra Vista. The subsequent investigation led to the arrest of Joseph Anderson on Feb. 22, 2017, on several charges related to fraud, theft, identity theft, and forgery.
The arrest of Mosier brings the SVPD’s investigation into a ring of people committing identity theft, forgery, fraud, and mail theft to a close. Mosier is being held on a $50,000 bond. Huston, Russell, and Anderson have all remained in jail since their arrests.