West Texas Woman Sentenced for Identity Theft in East Texas

BEAUMONT, Texas – A 26-year-old Wimberly, Texas woman has been sentenced to federal prison for identity theft related violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Samantha Kelly Bradshaw pleaded guilty on May 2, 2016 to identity theft by unlawful possession of a means of identification and was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone.

According to information presented in court, on Jan. 9, 2016, a deputy with the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the scene of a one-vehicle accident in Kountze, Texas where the vehicle was discovered to have been reported as stolen from Groves, Texas.  After the arrest of the driver, further investigation led to a residence on Manor Drive in Kountze where two other persons were arrested for drug offenses and one person was arrested for an outstanding warrant.  Bradshaw was located in a bedroom and initially arrested for failing to identify and later falsely identifying herself using an assumed name.  A search of the bedroom resulted in the location of over 50 pieces of identifying information including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver licenses, passports, visas, and bank account information of people from other parts of the state.  Two Texas identification cards were also located in the names of another person and Samantha Kelly Bradshaw.  The Bradshaw identification card had the photograph cut out and the identification card in the other name was fictitious.  A birth certificate and a Social Security card in the other name were also discovered.  Additionally, numerous debit cards obtained in various names were located, including some of the fictitious identification card and Samantha Bradshaw.  The person whose name was on the fictitious Texas identification card confirmed she was a victim of identity theft.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert L. Rawls.
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