Elgin woman guilty of stealing identity

An Elgin woman was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation for using a stolen identity to work in St. Charles for nearly a decade.

Teresa Portilla, 37, of the 200 block of Silver Court, pleaded guilty to one count of identity theft, a Class 1 felony.

Portilla was arrested in May after the victim, who lives in Woodstock, received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service outlining a $13,000 tax debt from unreported income in 2008.

Authorities later determined she had purchased the victim's Social Security number in Chicago, and since used it to earn more than $10,000 as an eight-year employee at Olcott Plastics in St. Charles.

On Thursday, Kane County Judge Thomas Mueller agreed to sentence Portilla to 24 months of probation and 130 days in the county jail, with credit for 50 days already served, in exchange for the guilty plea.

Mueller said she also faces deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.