Odessan faces federal charges
Man accused of stealing IDs and checking account information
An Odessa man has been federally indicted Monday on several federal charges and was accused of stealing IDs and checking account information from Salvation Army residents and West Texas Food Bank donors, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Odessan Charles Edward Curry, 59, was arrested Friday. Curry, a food bank employee, faces four counts of wire fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft. The release said he is accused of stealing personal information from temporary housing client record cards of 57 individuals while he lived at the Salvation Army, and then illegally obtaining checking account information on donors to the food bank. The release said Curry then reportedly used the checking accounts to take “thousands of dollars in money or goods.” He also used IDs to obtain credit cards, according to the release.
The money and credit cards were used to buy Internet services, flowers, utilities, lawn and garden supplies, and even to pay off a traffic ticket, the release said.
Curry was in federal custody Monday and will have a detention hearing at 10 a.m. Thursday at the U.S. District Courthouse in Midland.
Each fraud count carries up to 20 years in federal prison. Each aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory two years in prison.
