The Seattle Times has reported that a Seattle resident has pleaded guilty to fraud and identity theft of the son of country music legend, Merle Haggard.

Federal prosecutors have a case against alleged criminal, Mark G. Sams for impersonating Noel Haggard when chartering a private jet to Mexico and then running up over $60,000 in credit card charges under the name of an acquaintance. The victim was aware that Sams would be traveling to Mexico on a business matter, however Sams even signed autographs and charged fans for taking photos with him. When the credit card statement was received, the owner saw the charge for the chartered jet.

Sams was arrested back in July 2007 and pleaded guilty in September 2008 to device fraud and aggravated identity theft. He will be sentenced on January 9, 2009. If convicted, he could spend up to 10 years in prison and be fined $250,000.

With the recent announcement of LifeLock partnering with law enforcement officials to help protect against identity theft, we hope to see much fewer reports of this type. Many individuals are being victimized every year and not all of them are even aware of it. Getting a recent copy of your credit report is one way to find out if you have become a victim. This website is offering a discount on LifeLock services by using coupon code Defense. Lifelock also offers other services that will reduce junk mail; reduce credit card offers; replace lost or stolen cards and more.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 at 2:12 pm and is filed under Articles Concerning Identity Theft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.