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Identity fraud yields two-year prison term
YOUNGSTOWN
A man who assumed the identity of his live-in partner’s deceased husband has been sentenced to two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to five counts of identity fraud, four counts of forgery and three counts of tampering with records.
Richard Russell Lewis, of Walter Street, Campbell, who, according to the indictment, used nine aliases, drew the sentence Tuesday from Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
The indictment lists four alternative birth dates for Lewis, all within the current age range of 55 to 63, and says he committed the crimes in 2012 and 2013. Lewis told the judge he is 60.
Lewis’ partner, Bella E. Grosik, 54, pleaded guilty to obstructing justice in the same case, and Judge Sweeney put her on a year’s probation, suspending all of a six-month jail term and a $1,000 fine she imposed on her.
Grosik gave Lewis the information and documents he used to assume the identity of her late husband, John, said Martin P. Desmond, an assistant county prosecutor.
“I think, given the length of time that he did this and the amount of times that he did this, that prison is still necessary, despite the fact these are low-level offenses,” Desmond told the judge.
Lewis didn’t assume John Grosik’s identity to commit theft, but he did so to obtain employment and avoid possible jail time for violating probation sentences he had received in other states for other offenses, Desmond explained.
Lewis will get credit for the 174 days he has been jailed awaiting disposition of his case.
“They lived in Colorado for awhile. Then they moved here, and they’ve been living here, for the most part, law-abiding,” Desmond said of Lewis and his partner.
“He got a job, and he was, for all intents and purposes, living a law-abiding life under the identity of somebody else. He was paying bills. He was paying taxes,” Desmond said.
The FBI was alerted when Lewis accidentally transposed Social Security number digits on tax-related papers, resulting in use of someone else’s Social Security number, Desmond said.
The case was investigated by Aaron Hayes, a Boardman-based FBI agent, he said.