Coralville man accused of using stolen identities to buy, sell merchandise online

A Coralville man was arrested Wednesday and is facing felony charges for multiple identity thefts, police say.

Joshua Calvin Booth, 30, of 510 Fifth St. Apt. A in Coralville, is accused of swindling four companies out of more than $112,000 in online purchases, and using the identities of others to sell the stolen merchandise on eBay and other online sites, police said.

According to a criminal report, between July 10 and Dec. 8, 2010 Booth ordered merchandise from four companies, primarily $86,520 worth of merchandise from Enagic USA, Inc., a California company specializing in water ionizers. Police said Booth would provide debit or gift card information for down payments and have them shipped to various addresses of his family and friends, as well as a mailbox forwarding business.

When the companies attempted to withdraw the money, it was found the accounts had insufficient funds to cover the purchases, police said.

Booth allegedly used the identities of two victims, including their birth dates and Social Security numbers, to order merchandise from Enagic USA, and police said he used one of the victim's names to create an eBay account to sell the stolen merchandise.

Total Gym Fitness is reporting a loss of $11,679.40, and the Total Transformation program from the Legacy Publishing Company is reporting a $5,544 loss.

Merchandise from one of the companies, Mad Dogg Athletics, located in Venice, Calif., was found in the victim's residence during a search warrant, police said. The business reported a loss of approximately $8,350.

Booth was arrested Wednesday, the day after an arrest warrant was issued by a district court judge.

Booth is charged with ongoing criminal conduct, a class B felony, four charges of identity theft and one charge of second-degree theft, all class D felonies, and two charges of first-degree theft, class C felonies.

He is being held at the Johnson County Jail on a $250,000 cash bond.