A second man accused of breaking into Crosslines Ministry in Carthage changes his plea.
Verlin Wallis is now pleading guilty to charges that he and his brother Calvin broke into the Crosslines building in February 2008.
They stole a computer containing the personal information of about 2,000 Crossline clients and stole other property.
Verlin's brother, Calvin, has already been sentenced to five years in prison in a long-term drug treatment program.
Verlin will be sentenced in July.
Jan 2, 2009 01:48 PM CST
Brother pleads guilty in computer theft
One of two brothers accused of stealing a computer from Crosslines Ministries in Carthage pleads guilty.
Calvin Wallis changed his plea to second degree burglary in Jasper County court. He was sentenced to five years in jail. His sentence will be served in a long-term drug treatment program.
Calvin Wallis and his brother, Verlin Wallis, were charged with stealing a computer from Crosslines Ministries in Carthage in February.
The computer contained the personal information of about 2,000 Crossline clients.
Police do not believe that personal data was accessed.
Verlin Wallis is still awaiting trial.
Feb 25, 2008 05:33 PM CST
Arrests made in theft of over 2,000 personal info documents
Joplin police arrest two men they believe are responsible for stealing personal information of more than 2,000 southwest Missourians.
Earlier this month thieves stole numerous personal documents from Crosslines Ministries in Carthage, Missouri.
Those documents had the names, birthdates and social security numbers of every Crosslines client.
Calvin Wallis and his brother, Verlin, have both been charged with second degree burglary.
Their bond is set at $5,000.
Feb 15, 2008 06:19 PM CST - Jeff Stensland
Identities of 2,000 residents compromised after overnight burglary
Carthage, Missouri police say burglars broke into Crosslines Ministries overnight Thursday stealing personal files from the office.
Those documents contained the names, ages and social security numbers of close to 2,000 individuals who have used Crosslines Services.
Crosslines is a food pantry and clothing bank for low-income families in the Carthage area.
Police say they do not have a suspect yet, and local identity theft crimes are rare.
"We haven't had identity theft cases of this magnitude in quite a while," says Detective Sergent Randee Kaiser of the Carthage Police Department. "I hate to say never, but it's been a long time."
Police are urging anyone who has been a customer of Crosslines to contact their bank and the three credit bureaus, as well as be on the lookout for fraud.
