April 7th, 2015 by WCBC Radio
The Office of the State’s Attorney for Allegany County, the Honorable Michael O. Twigg, State’s Attorney, announced on Tuesday, April 7, 2015, that Christopher Lee Linn, 28 of Cumberland, was convicted in Allegany County Circuit Court of one count of Theft having a value of between $10,000 and $100,000.
In August 2014, Linn went to a local credit union and procured a loan on a vehicle in the name of another person. That individual, from North Carolina, alerted the credit union once he noticed the loan on his credit report. Investigators determined that Linn, while living in North Carolina, had obtained personal information of the victim including a passport, then utilizing the passport was able to get a West Virginia identification card which was ultimately used to get the loan at the credit union. Linn was captured several months later in Pennsylvania, still using the victim’s information to obtain employment and housing. Once Linn has completed his sentence in Maryland, he will face additional charges in both West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
According to Assistant State’s Attorney Erich Bean, who prosecuted the case “In my six years as a prosecutor, this is the most sophisticated identity fraud scheme I’ve seen. The troubles Mr. Linn created for himself aren’t over once he has finished serving his time in Maryland. Had it not been for the diligent work of our local law enforcement, he would probably still be doing this somewhere else. This case crosses four States.”
The Honorable W. Timothy Finan, Circuit Court Judge for Allegany County, sentenced Linn to six years in the Maryland Division of Corrections, suspending three years of the sentence. He was also ordered to make restitution in the case.
The lead investigator in the case was Detective Matthew Shimer of the C3I Unit, along with assistance from the Cumberland City Police Department. Assistance in locating and arresting Linn was provided by the Pennsylvania State Police. Linn was represented by attorney James Elliott.
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