Jamaican man sent to prison for ID scam at tax-collector’s office

Jamaican man sent to prison for ID scam at tax-collector’s office

A 43-year-old Jamaican man was sentenced this week to federal prison for his alleged part in a now-dismantled fake-ID scam at the Osceola County tax-collector’s office.

Richard Anthony Davis was sentenced Thursday to three years and six months in federal prison for conspiracy to obtain fraudulent Florida driver licenses, false claim to U.S. citizenship, and aggravated identity theft.

He pleaded guilty to the crimes in April.

U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron also ordered Davis to forfeit $2,926 — the amount investigators traced to the crimes.

Davis conspired with a now-fired worker at the Osceola County tax-collector’s office to issue Florida driver licenses and identification cards to more than 280 people based upon fraudulent and fraudulently-obtained U.S. Virgin Islands identity documents, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The worker, Walter Brown, pleaded guilty in this case and was sentenced in February to two years in prison.

Davis charged his customers $7,500 each and he paid Brown between $300 and $700 for each driver license or identification card.

Davis used birth certificates, Social Security cards, and fraudulent U.S. Virgin Islands identifications, driver licenses and other photo IDs to obtain the fraudulent documents.

“Davis escorted his customers to the Osceola Tax Collector’s Office on days prearranged with Brown,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “Some of his customers were illegal aliens, previously deported aliens, convicted felons, and others with unknown status.”

The customers would go directly to Brown’s window with the documents that Davis gave them for their license application.

Then Brown issued the fraudulent licenses or ID cards.

The Osceola County Tax Collector’s Office reported Brown to officials after detecting his “suspicious activity” and the office cooperated with investigators.

Brown was later fired.

Davis legally entered the United States in 1991, but overstayed his legal residence and never left the country.

“Beginning in 2000, Davis falsely represented himself to be a United States citizen under five different names,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

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