When I first met Lisa, a long-time methamphetamine user and convicted fraud expert, I expected someone a little more hardened. Dressed a little less conservatively. Someone not quite so nervous. Instead, Lisa wore her long hair in a bun. Her dark dress past her knees. Her manner of speech careful and earnest. We were introduced by Deputy District Attorney Damon Mosler. The story I had been assigned was the relationship between meth use and crime. It's one of several segments on methamphetamine that are part of Meth Next Door: An Envision San Diego Special .
There's nothing new about the relationship between drugs and crime. Users will do just about anything to support their habit. Lisa became an expert at stealing mail and stealing identities to support her meth addiction. When we sat down to do the interview, Lisa was candid. She described in detail the first time she washed (took the ink off) a stolen check, wrote in her name, took it to the bank, and was handed $300. She said her "knees were shaking," but it was a "rush." And so began her long career as one of the city's most prolific fraud artists. She eventually learned how to tap into bank accounts and steal tens of thousands of dollars in a single day. And she did all of this by stealing people's mail. She listed the neighborhoods she frequented. They were all close to where I live.
"They never check their mail," she said.
That's me, I thought. So often I let my mail pile up in my broken mailbox. The flimsy plastic door tore off months ago and my mail often sits for days, completely exposed, in my mailbox on my front lawn. I would have been an easy target for Lisa or anyone like her.
Lisa told me while she was on meth she "had no feelings" and felt no remorse for all the lives she damaged. Eventually, what made her give up meth and mail was exhaustion. After 13 years of using meth, a drug that keeps you awake for days, she wanted to sleep. She also had several outstanding arrest warrants and knew she'd go to prison the next time she was caught.
Lisa made a deal with the district attorney's office. She told them in detail how she committed her crime, even showed them how she washes checks. In exchange for the information, she stays out of jail.
Lisa has also been off meth since April, 2007. So this should be a happy ending for her. But it's not. She is a convicted felon. She has worked five different jobs since she's been clean, but fired from all of them after employers do a background check. She says she understands her employers' dilemma. How can they ever trust someone like her? She is getting by financially with the help of her boyfriend and family. She says if it wasn't for them, she's afraid she'd return to meth and "busting checks."
When Lisa confessed all her fraud secrets to the district attorney and nearly two dozen other law enforcement officials, Damon Mosler was recording video. Throughout the interview, she seems proud she was able to outsmart police, the post office, banks and credit card companies. But she has a moment toward the end. A realization that her game is up and she can never go back. She breaks down and says, "I'm smart, I'm very smart." But she knows she used her intelligence to commit crimes, and now it's a permanent scar on her life. She already suspects she may never get a decent job. Watching the video, you can see some of Lisa's long forgotten "feelings" return.
Lisa's dream now is to work for a security company because she knows best how to catch a thief. She wants to use her knowledge for good instead of evil, she says. But she is surprisingly self-aware of her dilemma. How can you believe someone who was so good at fooling everyone? I thought about my broken mailbox and how close it is to the neighborhoods from which Lisa use to steal.
As a journalist, I found Lisa to be a sympathetic interview. She comes across as someone you want to root for. I hope she finds her way. But I wonder what great leap of faith it will take for someone to trust a thief.
