I just received this press release from the IRS, Criminal Investigation:
An employee of a home health care company in Broward County pled guilty for her participation in an identity theft fraud scheme involving a patient’s personal identifying information.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Steve Steinberg, Chief, Aventura Police Department, made the announcement.
Charlisa Franklin pled guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1). At sentencing, Franklin faces a mandatory term of two years’ imprisonment.
According to court documents, Franklin was an employee at a home health care company in Broward County and used her position to access patient information. Then, on November 27, 2012, the defendant entered a department store and made several merchandise purchases totaling approximately $1,420.65. Franklin advised the clerk that she did not have her store credit card with her, and asked the clerk to look up her account. The defendant utilized a Social Security number issued to and a New Jersey driver’s license in the name of another individual to gain access to the account and to complete the transactions. Franklin knew that the account belonged to a real person, and that the person was a patient of the home health care company. The account holder did not authorize the use of his/her name, Social Security number, and other personal identifying information in connection with Franklin’s fraudulent purchases at the department store.
Franklin is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. before United States District Judge Kathleen M. Williams.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the Aventura Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan D. Stratton and Jamie R. Galvin.
Franklin was indicted in the above matter in September, 2014. In November, 2014, she was arrested on other identity theft charges. Arrest details from a booking in December, 2014 can be found here. The outcome of that case is not known to this blogger. Five years earlier, in 2009, an individual by the same name was arrested in Florida for stealing items (wallets?) from individuals’ cars.
Franklin’s name also appears in the DEA’s Operation Synthetic Web , where she’s listed as part of a Lowe’s employee theft ring.
It would appear that Franklin has a history of arrests relating to identity theft, but it seems the most the federal court can sentence her to in this case is two years in prison.