Woman charged with ID theft

A Tucumcari woman was arrested and jailed in a 66-count complaint of identity theft and illegally using a debit or credit card for nearly $3,000 in transactions.

Crystal Marie Jones, 34, was booked Nov. 9 into the Quay County Detention Center and released by court order five days later, according to jail records. No attorney for her was listed in court records.

Frank Gutierrez, lead investigator for the 10th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Tucumcari, wrote the criminal complaint and filed it in magistrate court Nov. 8.

In the complaint, Gutierrez accuses Jones in 33 counts of unlawful use or theft of an ATM or credit card and 33 counts of identity theft.

Both types of charges are fourth-degree felonies that carry a penalty of up to 18 months in jail or up to a $5,000 fine.

According to the complaint, Jones used a debit or credit card for 17 transactions at Logan Food Mart, eight at Allsups in Tucumcari, seven at Sun Valley Rides (the carnival company at the Quay County Fair) and one at Hudson Auto Supply in Tucumcari.

The transactions occurred from July 1 to Sept. 30. They ranged from $3 to $288.52. The 33 transactions listed in the complaint totaled $2,957.01.

District Attorney Tim Rose stated in an email the victims were from Curry County.

“The victims (husband and wife) in this case use that particular credit card for both personal and business-related purchases and pay the balance every month, which is substantial and not unusual to fluctuate by several thousand dollars,” Rose wrote. “The victims finally noticed the fraudulent activity when they noticed there was a purchase at a store that they had never visited before and thereafter took a closer look at their statements.”