Andrew Smith of Newsday reports that Benjamin Achampong, 30, a former manager at the Long Island Head Injury Association pleaded guilty to 20 counts each of second-degree identity theft and other charges.
In return for the plea, Suffolk County Court Judge James Hudson promised to sentence Achampong to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison. Manley said his office wanted a sentence of 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison for the top grand larceny charge.
As part of the plea deal, Achampong will pay $20,000 to the state in restitution.
Achampong admitted taking patients’ names and Social Security numbers, then filing state tax returns in their names after making up employment details and income. He then had refunds deposited directly to several bank accounts he controlled in some cases. When he got paper checks, he forged signatures and deposited them.
If the sentence seems light, particularly when you read the whole story and realize that this wasn’t his first, nor last, crime, then just know that Suffolk County jails are beyond overcrowded and housing inmates has been a long-running problem there.