Mar. 4—A Collin County man who led police on high-speed chases in 2019 and 2022 was sentenced to 10 years in prison this week after pleading guilty to possessing dozens of fraudulent items of identification. A second charge of theft was dismissed as part of a plea deal.

Shane Thomas Leeth, 35, of McKinney was indicted in October 2022 on charges of fraud for possessing 50 items or more of identification and theft of property valued between $2,500 and $30,000.

Leeth, who had a previous brush with police in 2019, was apprehended in Arlington in July 2022 after an incident with law enforcement in Hunt County.

On July 21, 2022, the Hunt County Sheriff's Office was attempting to locate Leeth, who was wanted on two felony warrants out of Hunt County, warrants out of Collin County and a parole violation. Leeth was also suspected of theft of mail and producing fraudulent checks.

While in the area of County Road 1048 in Celeste, officers passed an ATV traveling at a high rate of speed. The ATV was occupied by a male matching Leeth's description and a female. Deputies attempted to stop the ATV, which evaded deputies and drove through a hayfield. Deputies managed to locate the female, but were unable to find Leeth.

Early the morning of July 22, 2022, Greenville police initiated a pursuit of a white Ford F350 pulling a gooseneck trailer, but officers lost sight of the truck off of U.S. 69 north of Greenville. At approximately 4 a.m. that same day, Hunt County Sheriff's deputies received a call of a single-vehicle accident on County Road 1079. The vehicle involved in the accident was the F350 and trailer that Greenville police had pursued earlier. The truck had been stolen. It was suspected that Leeth stole the truck, evaded police, wrecked the truck then left the accident scene.

Leeth was captured in Arlington two days later by officers with the Hunt County Sheriff's Office, Collin County Sheriff's Office and the US Marshal's Office.

As part of this week's proceedings, Leeth also pleaded guilty to a charge arising from a 2019 pursuit and crash.

Leeth was indicted in in February 2020 on a charge of evading arrest with a vehicle in connection with a Nov. 25, 2019 incident in which a trooper spotted a gray 2015 Hyundai Accent speeding along County Road 4411 near the intersection of FM 118. Leeth, the driver of the Accent, failed to pull over and a pursuit resulted in a collision with a Ford pickup along the county road. No one in the pickup was injured.

Leeth was also sentenced to 10 years in connection with that crime. He will serve his two 10-year sentences concurrently.