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A man accused of stealing Will Smith’s identity was sentenced to two years in prison today (Dec. 27).
Carlos Lomax, 45, was convicted of fraudulently opening and charging over $33,000 with 14 phony accounts at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area stores in Will Smith’s legal name, Willard C. Smith.
Lomax pleaded guilty in September of 2002 to a charge of “use of an unauthorized access device."
He was already on probation after serving time for stealing the identity of former Atlanta Hawks basketball player Steve Smith and running up over $80,000 on fraudulent American Express cards.
Prosecutors said Lomax has failed to be rehabilitated and has not paid back court ordered restitution to tune of $190,000.
A judge ordered the man to pay another $64,000 for purchases made in Smith’s name and purchases made in the name of another unidentified pro-football player.
In December of 2003, Lomax agreed to be taped to explain how he stole Smith’s identity to a Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which was seeking ways to combat thieves from stealing other people’s identities.
"You get somebody with a common name that you think has good credit or a lot of money," Lomax explained shortly after being arrested. "Willard Smith, you would never think was Will Smith until this happened. When I got his credit report, I couldn't believe it."
Lomax said he made the illegal purchases over the course of 15 days. He was busted when Smith’s business manager noticed his client was billed almost $6,000 worth of merchandise from a Sears account in Pittsburgh.
Federal authorities tracked the expenses to Lomax, who was using his own Pittsburgh home address, but was using Smith’s name.
According to statistics from a Federal Trade Commission report, by the end of 2005 total worldwide losses due to identity theft could reach $2 trillion dollars.
Source: allhiphop.com
Carlos Lomax, 45, was convicted of fraudulently opening and charging over $33,000 with 14 phony accounts at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area stores in Will Smith’s legal name, Willard C. Smith.
Lomax pleaded guilty in September of 2002 to a charge of “use of an unauthorized access device."
He was already on probation after serving time for stealing the identity of former Atlanta Hawks basketball player Steve Smith and running up over $80,000 on fraudulent American Express cards.
Prosecutors said Lomax has failed to be rehabilitated and has not paid back court ordered restitution to tune of $190,000.
A judge ordered the man to pay another $64,000 for purchases made in Smith’s name and purchases made in the name of another unidentified pro-football player.
In December of 2003, Lomax agreed to be taped to explain how he stole Smith’s identity to a Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which was seeking ways to combat thieves from stealing other people’s identities.
"You get somebody with a common name that you think has good credit or a lot of money," Lomax explained shortly after being arrested. "Willard Smith, you would never think was Will Smith until this happened. When I got his credit report, I couldn't believe it."
Lomax said he made the illegal purchases over the course of 15 days. He was busted when Smith’s business manager noticed his client was billed almost $6,000 worth of merchandise from a Sears account in Pittsburgh.
Federal authorities tracked the expenses to Lomax, who was using his own Pittsburgh home address, but was using Smith’s name.
According to statistics from a Federal Trade Commission report, by the end of 2005 total worldwide losses due to identity theft could reach $2 trillion dollars.
Source: allhiphop.com