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Press Release

Georgia DFCS employee pleads guilty to aggravated identity theft

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Georgia

ATLANTA - Tamika Anderson, a Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (“DFCS”) employee, has pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft after she stole more than 100 identities while employed at Georgia DFCS.

“DFCS provides critical services to some of Georgia's neediest and most vulnerable residents,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “These citizens depend on DFCS and its employees to do the right thing. For a state employee to exploit these people by stealing their identities is reprehensible.”

“This case is an unfortunate example of an individual who violated her position of trust to illegally enrich herself,” said Steven R. Baisel, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Atlanta Field Office. “The Secret Service will continue to collaborate with our law enforcement partners to target and arrest individuals who commit these types of crimes.”

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court: in September 2018, Anderson and a co-conspirator, Cassandra Clayton, agreed to sell people's identities, including their names and Social Security numbers, to a third-party for $4,000, with Anderson keeping $3,600. Anderson obtained the identities while working at Georgia DFCS from unsuspecting clients and sent them to Clayton by text message. Clayton did not work for Georgia DFCS, but was responsible for completing the sale to the third-party at a restaurant in McDonough, Georgia. Unbeknownst to Anderson and Clayton, the “buyer” was an undercover agent. Anderson and Clayton knew, however, that the identities were supposed to be used for other fraudulent conduct. In total, Anderson stole over 100 identities over just a couple of weeks.

Cassandra Clayton, 44, of Jonesboro, Georgia, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud. On January 23, 2020, Clayton was sentenced to three years’ probation.

Sentencing for Tamika Anderson, 29, of Jonesboro, Georgia, is scheduled for June 10, 2020, before U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross.

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex R. Sistla is prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.

Updated March 13, 2020

Topic
Identity Theft