60-year-old Campbell man charged with ID fraud, forgery
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
It’s only fitting Richard Russell Lewis has three different names.
The 60-year-old Campbell man who was arraigned in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Thursday has nine aliases, eight different Social Security numbers and four different driver’s licenses.
He was ordered held without bond by Magistrate Dominic DeLaurentis after his arraignment on five counts of identity fraud, four counts of forgery and three counts of tampering with evidence. He was arrested Aug. 7 and has been held in the Mahoning County jail since then.
His wife, Bella Grosik, 54, was arraigned on a charge of obstruction of justice because authorities said she gave Lewis her late husband’s driver’s license and birth certificate and Lewis has been using those for more than 10 years.
Grosik also was arrested Aug. 7.
She was granted a $15,000 bond by Magistrate DeLaurentis. Both have Aug. 26 pretrial hearing dates before Judge Maureen Sweeney and Sept. 15 trial dates, which probably will be pushed back.
Assistant Prosecutor Martin Desmond told Magistrate DeLaurentis that Lewis should not be granted bond because he thinks Lewis is a flight risk. He said Lewis has at least three open warrants in Florida, Texas and Arizona, and to avoid criminal charges in those states, Lewis fled and assumed a new identity.
“When he picked up the charges in those other states, he assumed those other identities,” Desmond said.
Desmond said the case was investigated primarily by the FBI. He said the investigation began when Lewis applied for a job and gave a Social Security number that belonged to someone who was dead. They also checked his driver’s license, which did not match the Social Security number, Desmond said.
Also arraigned Thursday before Magistrate DeLaurentis was Mark Lett, 47, of Youngstown, and Caprice Daye, 41, of Austintown. Each faces several counts of identity theft, counterfeiting in controlled substances and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
Desmond said the pair are accused of stealing driver’s licenses and then using the information to obtain credit cards in their names.
He said when both were arrested last week after being secretly indicted by the grand jury, they gave police fake identities.
Desmond said the two also work with people in other states to steal identities, but he would not elaborate.
He said because of their ties to people in other states, a high bond was necessary to assure their appearance in court.
Lett was denied bond because he has a parole violation. Daye was given a bond of $200,000.