COEUR d'ALENE - A 37-year-old Priest River man who admitted to stealing checks out of several mailboxes in Spirit Lake, then forging them at businesses and banks throughout North Idaho, has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison.

Jimmie W. Goodson, 37, was sentenced for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge also ordered Goodson to serve three years supervised release following his prison term, and required him to pay $6,572 to the victims of his crime.

During his guilty plea in December, Goodson, a former driver for the Priest River EMT Association, admitted to mailbox thefts in Spirit Lake. He then forged the checks and passed them at several North Idaho businesses and banks.

"Identity theft is a crime that goes far beyond the loss of money or property," U.S. Attorney Tom Moss said. "It is a personal invasion which can rob innocent people of their good names."

Coeur d'Alene Vacuum was among Goodson's bad check victims in January 2009. He hit the company with two bad checks totaling $1,714 last year.

He also wrote $7,700 in fraudulent checks at a local furniture store.

He was wanted in Bonner, Kootenai and Boundary counties.

Goodson also pleaded guilty last year to two counts of transaction card forgery and one count of criminal possession of a transaction card.

Police said the victim in that case was a Priest River man in his 70s who is partially disabled.