East Bay Man Sentenced For Stealing Identities To Buy Cars, Boat

CONCORD, CA — A Concord man who admitted dressing up as a mailman to try and steal mail from a San Francisco postal box will serve five years and five months in federal prison for that and other crimes, federal authorities said this week.

Jason Blackard, 38, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco after he pleaded guilty in October to bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of unauthorized access devices, and attempted mail theft, according to U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds and U.S. Postal Service Inspector in Charge Rafael Nuñez.

In his plea agreement, Blackard admitted carrying out a series of frauds and thefts over a two-year period from January 2019 through February 2021.

On Jan. 9, 2019, U.S. Postal inspectors were conducting surveillance on a USPS mail "relay" box at the corner of Sacramento Street and Powell Street in San Francisco. While watching the box, which was the target of repeated thefts, they saw Blackard approach and open it.

Blackard was wearing a USPS hat and jacket and used a key belonging to USPS, prosecutors said. In his plea agreement, Blackard admitted he intended to steal mail from the relay box.

Blackard further admitted in his plea agreement that he committed seven more crimes in the two years that followed.

Three of the crimes involved bank fraud in which Blackard stole identities from other people and impersonated them to open loans and write checks in their names to buy big-ticket items including a $58,000 Toyota sports car, a $98,000 speedboat and trailer, and a $30,000 Mercedes-Benz from dealerships in Chico, Ripon and Vacaville.

Blackard also admitted using stolen identities to buy thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from retailers in Walnut Creek, Redding and Chico, including $9,000 in goods from a high-end clothes retailer, $67,000 in goods from a big box hardware store, and $9,000 in goods from a tractor supply retailer.

Blackard’s fraud and theft crimes totaled $250,000 in losses and continued even after law enforcement executed a search warrant on his home in July 2020 and persisted until law enforcement arrested him in February 2021, prosecutors said.

In addition to imposing a 66-month prison term, Senior U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney sentenced Blackard to three years probation and ordered him to pay $134,908.32 in restitution to his victims.

Blackard was in custody at his sentencing hearing Wednesday and immediately began serving his sentence.