Florida teen, 14, and mom charged with national identity theft

A Florida teenager who allegedly organized a pyramid scheme and his mother have been charged in connection with nationwide identity theft, authorities said.

Elijah Duett, 14, faces 15 counts of identity theft, obtaining property by fraud, illegal use of credit cards and unlawful use of a 2-way communication device. His mother, Selena Wallace, 38, was arrested on principal charges to each count, along with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said. 

Duett initially came under investigation in May and was charged with making written threats against a student who didn't pay into a pyramid scheme he was running, authorities said. 

Investigators discovered the teen was purchasing a "significant" amount of stolen personal and financial information online. That included social security and credit numbers and the login information to a number of banks and websites, police said. 

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Duett also had detailed instructions and equipment to forge money orders, they said. 

Investigators identified at least 17 victims from across the country. Of those, 15 wanted to pursue criminal charges against the teen suspect. 

As the investigation progressed, Investigators learned that Wallace told her son that she wished he would use his skills in a legal way before asking him to raise his prices to make more profit, authorities said. 

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A search of his home yielded 12 laptops, 4 printers, 4 cell phones, several gaming systems and other technology.