San Jose woman guilty of identity theft

A San Jose woman pleaded guilty Friday to stealing identity information from her clients while working as a pet-sitter and at a Rancho Cordova veterinary clinic, authorities said.

SACRAMENTO — A San Jose woman pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated identity theft involving clients of a Rancho Cordova veterinary clinic, authorities said.

Rose Marie Segale, 41, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in a federal prison after entering her pleas in U.S. District Court, U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott of the Eastern District of California said. Segale also pleaded guilty to access device fraud, he said.

Court documents showed that Segale used her employment at the vet clinic and her pet-sitting work to obtain the personal and financial information of her clients, Scott said. She provided that information to Marie Antoinette Alcanter, a co-defendant who used the information to make purchases and withdrawls from the accounts of those clients, Scott said.

Alcanter is alleged to have obtained more than $40,000 worth of items and cash using the identity of others, authorities said.

In one instance, Scott said, Segale gave Alcanter a client’s credit card number taken from a bill for euthanasia and cremation of a dog. She also created new accounts with the identities of others, he said.

Segale is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 17.