A North Miami resident was sentenced yesterday to 47 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for possessing 2,434 stolen identities.
Camelin Junior Desrosiers, 28, previously pled guilty to one count of possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(3), and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1).
According to court documents, on February 25, 2015, law enforcement initiated a traffic stop on a rental car leased by Desrosiers. The defendant, the driver, and a passenger were ordered to exit the vehicle. Because the vehicle contained after-market tinted windows, and because the tinted windows violated the rental car contract, law enforcement initiated a tow of the vehicle to return it to the rental car company.
An inventory search of the car was conducted prior to it being towed. In the trunk of the car, law enforcement found a laptop computer owned by Desrosiers. A forensic analysis of the computer revealed 2,434 pieces of personal identifying information (PII), including names, dates of birth and social security numbers.
Law enforcement spoke with one individual whose name, date of birth, and social security number were in the computer, and confirmed that he/she did not authorize Desrosiers to be in possession of the PII. Desrosiers knew that the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers belonged to real persons.
SOURCE: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida. Some additional coverage of the case can be found in earlier media coverage, here, although nothing seems to indicate how/where he obtained the personal information of thousands.