East Peoria Man Charged with Wire Fraud and Identity Theft

PEORIA, Ill. - A grand jury today returned an indictment charging Stephen H. Keith, 35, of East Peoria, Illinois, for allegedly perpetrating a wire fraud and identity theft scheme starting as early as August 2020 and continuing to August 2024.

The indictment alleges that Keith claimed to run a company called DeviceLyfe that was never registered with the State of Illinois. According to the indictment, Keith used that purported company to gain access to individuals' homes and electronic devices, facilitating the theft of personal information. Keith also allegedly downloaded others' personal and financial information via the internet, collecting and storing information for tens of millions of individuals.

Keith is alleged to have use this information to create and attempt to create false identification documents, to access his victims' accounts, to steal funds, and to impersonate his victims.

The indictment charges Keith with wire fraud (Counts One through Four), obtaining information by computer from a financial institution (Count Five), possession of a means of identification (Counts Six through Eight), aggravated identity theft (Counts Nine through Ten), and making a false statement (Count Eleven).

Keith was initially charged by federal criminal complaint in December 2025. He was detained and remains in federal custody.

If convicted, the maximum statutory penalties for the alleged crimes charged are up to 20 years' imprisonment for each count of wire fraud and up to five years' imprisonment on each of the counts of obtaining information by computer from a financial institution, possession of a means of identification, and making a false statement. Keith also faces a mandatory sentence of two consecutive years' imprisonment on each of the aggravated identity theft counts. Additional penalties, including fines and forfeiture of assets, may be imposed.

Agencies participating in the investigation include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office. Assistant United States Attorney Douglas F. McMeyer is representing the government in the prosecution.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.