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Press Release

North Miami Resident Pleads Guilty to Possessing 2,875 Stolen Identities

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida

A North Miami resident pled guilty to possessing 2,875 stolen identities.

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), Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), and William Hernandez, Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department (NMBPD), made the announcement.

Camelin Junior Desrosiers, 28, 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). Sentencing is scheduled for October 25, 2016 before U.S. District Court Judge Darrin P. Gayles. At sentencing, Desrosiers faces a statutory maximum of ten years’ imprisonment for the access device charge, and a mandatory term of two years’ imprisonment, consecutive to any other prison term, for the aggravated identity theft charge.

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 2,875 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.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, DOL-OIG, and the NMBPD. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Rothstein.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Updated August 19, 2016

Topic
Identity Theft