Two people involved in a large ring of identity fraud were sentenced in Muskingum County after attempting to steal the identity of a local man.

In August, a woman applied for an online loan through the OneMain Financial location in Zanesville using the information associated with a well-known man in the area. All of the information on the ID used in the loan application belonged to a Caucasian, Zanesville male, while the photo on the ID was an African American female, according to Muskingum County Prosecuting Attorney John Litle.

Employees at the OneMain Financial location recognized the information and alerted the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Officer to the fraudulent activity.

The Sheriff’s Office was able to set up a “sting” operation, Litle said, where OneMain Financial requested an in-person signature for the loan that was applied for. Upon Phelps’ arrival to the location, deputies were waiting to take her into custody.

Akeem Foote-El was also arrested after attempting to flee the scene in his vehicle, which had printing equipment and computers used in the identity fraud scheme.

According to Litle, Foote-El was higher up in the recruiting processes of that identity theft ring. He would recruit people, like Phelps, into the schemes. Foote-El was also the person to create all of the fraudulent documents.

“It’s relatively rare for people who are doing this sort of stuff to actually get caught,” Litle said. “We just happen to have our local guys who caught these guys in the act and managed to set up a trap to actually catch the perpetrators.”

Both Phelps and Foote-El were facing charges in Florida for a more severe, but similar, situation.

Prosecutors in Florida transferred their prosecution to Muskingum County to add a charge of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and require that Phelps pay restitution, Litle said. Foote-El didn’t actually receive money in the Florida case, so he is not required to pay any restitution.

According to Phelps’ court documents, she is required to pay $9,577.53 of restitution.

Phelps was sentenced to three years of incarceration after pleading guilty to three felony counts of forgery, one misdemeanor count of forgery, telecommunication fraud, identity fraud and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.

Foote-El received a 56 month sentence after pleading guilty to three felony counts of forgery, one misdemeanor count of forgery, telecommunication fraud, identity fraud and failure to comply.

On Dec. 13, Foote-El filed to appeal his case.