SACRAMENTO, Calif. — James Raymond Hanes, 61, of Anderson, pleaded guilty today to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in a vehicle financing scam that used stolen identities, fake driver’s licenses, and fraudulent loans to obtain and resell cars, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.According to court documents, between June 2022 and December 2023, Hanes obtained personally identifiable information of multiple individuals and used it to create at least 16 counterfeit driver’s licenses bearing his photo but someone else’s identity. He then secured more than $47,000 in vehicle loans in those victims’ names, purchased cars from dealerships across Northern California, registered them with the DMV, obtained insurance, and resold the vehicles to associates and unsuspecting buyers. The U.S.
Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation with assistance from the Redding Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Delaney is prosecuting the case.Hanes is scheduled to be sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge William B.
Shubb on Oct. 13, 2026. Hanes faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for the crime of bank fraud, with a mandatory consecutive statutory penalty of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.