HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A woman detectives say is behind a massive identity theft ring is also being connected to the death of a Harris County Sheriff's Deputy.
Crystal Mae Ballinger and three other people are charged with stealing the identities of more than 200 unsuspecting people, many of them senior citizens and then applying for an untold number of fraudulent credit cards.
"She (Ballinger) was stealing identifying information including social security numbers, names, dates of birth, and credit card numbers and other financial information," said Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Joshua Nowitz, with the departments financial crimes division.
Investigators said Ballinger, Kenneth Grimet, Cody Ligori and Tina Harrington stole the identities of their victims by stealing purses and breaking into hotels.
"They broke into one particular chain of hotels, and they knew where the employment applications were stored in those hotels. They would go in and steal critical information on those applications, again, including social security numbers and dates of birth," Nowitz said.
Channel 2 investigates has learned that Ballinger is being linked to the death of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Jesse Valdez III in October.
Valdez was killed in a horrific car accident that police say was caused by Kelly Jo Ivey, who was high on methamphetamine at the time of the crash.
In an addition to identity theft, Ballinger is charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute
According to court documents, Ballinger is now also part of the investigation into Valdez's death.
Authorities released the following image of Ballinger taken on surveillance cameras at an ATM:
