ANDERSON, Calif. -- A Shasta County man will spend the next 12 years in prison for stealing the identities of several people in the Northstate.

Darrell Michael Bolefahr was convicted of stealing personal information from 40 victims, including friends, neighbors, and relatives.

The investigation began in July, when a woman on Balls Ferry Road in Anderson called the Sheriff's Office and reported that two checks she had written and mailed had been stolen from her mailbox. The names and amounts on the checks had been altered, and deposited into a fraudulent bank account. The altered name on the checks was was later found to be another identity theft victim, who had been previously employed by Bolefahr's neighbors, who were also victims of identity theft.

During the investigation, Shasta County Sheriff's Detectives learned that the United States Postal Inspectors had a separate investigation involving mail theft and forgery involving Bolefahr's neighbors. Postal Inspectors had identified the suspect in the case as Darrell Bolefahr.

Detectives served a search warrant on Bolefahrs residence in August, where they found hundreds of documents including printed transaction records, credit cards and checks from the fraudulent opened accounts, forged checks and stolen property.