A 33-year-old homeless woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to identity theft and burglary charges after she befriended an 87-year-old woman and used the woman’s credit card.
Jami Rae Mims also was responsible for stealing clothing and an identification card from a resident at an assisted living center in Central Point on May 6, according to Central Point Police Capt. Chuck Newell.
Mims cried as she pleaded guilty before Jackson County Circuit Judge Lorenzo Mejia to first-degree burglary, two counts of aggravated identity theft and two counts of identity theft.
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According to Medford Police Department spokesman Lt. Mike Budreau, Mims took credit cards from the elderly woman on April 27 and from a 31-year-old woman on April 29. Combined, Mims used the credit cards more than 15 times, racking up $2,200 in bills and an attempted $2,000 in charges.
Mims used the credit cards at several stores, including Albertsons, Barnes & Noble, AT&T, Dollar Tree, Grocery Outlet and a gas station, Budreau said.
At Albertsons, Mims used the money to buy gift cards — a common practice among identity thieves, Budreau said.
“You can’t track a gift card back to its original transaction,” Budreau said. “It’s free money.”
Mims also stole a $2,500 wedding ring from the 87-year-old woman’s home, police said. Mims entered the home after telling the woman she needed to call her mother for a ride home because her bicycle tire was flat. Then she asked the woman for a tour of her home in the 600 block of Kylee Ann in Medford.
Budreau said a Medford police detective retrieved the ring and returned it to the woman a few weeks ago. He said one of Mims’ family members had the ring.
Mims has been held in the Jackson County Jail since May 7 on $85,000 bail on charges of aggravated identity theft, first-and second-degree theft, first-degree burglary and a parole violation.
Mims’ attorney, prosecutor Jeremy Markiewicz, said he did not know when sentencing would occur.
