FortBendNow.com

A Missouri City woman who pleaded guilty to stealing the identity of a local schoolteacher has been sentenced to the maximum two-year confinement by 268th District Court Judge Brady Elliott.  

Stacey Lavett Davis, a 42-year old Katrina evacuee, was convicted of fraudulent use of identifying information this week.  She had obtained and used her victim’s name and social security number to apply for credit at a Houston area apartment complex in October 2007.  The defendant also obtained other critical information on the victim, including her driver’s license number and date of birth.  

The possession or use of such critical information of another without their consent is a state jail felony.  More commonly known as “identity theft”, the range of punishment is from 180 days to 2 years in a state jail facility, without parole.

Testifying before the court, the victim explained how the crime might have gone undetected but for the fact that she was constantly monitoring her credit scores. When she called the credit bureaus about her credit rating; no one wanted to help her and treated her as a suspect.  After enduring repeated hang-ups and dead-ends, she took the case to Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office where an investigation led to the defendant’s arrest.

The victim also told Judge Elliott that it took months before anyone would believe that she wasn’t the woman stealing her identity.  It only ended after Detective Sean Baudat personally called the collecting agencies.  Even then, the victim still feared for her safety, according to prosecutors. Because the defendant had somehow accessed her other information, she reasoned, she must also know where she worked and lived.

Prosecutor John Hawkins asked the Court for the maximum sentence based on the victim’s ordeal and the defendant’s history of deceptive and manipulative behavior.  

“I am very pleased with Judge Elliott’s sentence and the investigation of the Sheriff’s Department,” said Hawkins.  “It took a lot of courage for this victim to come to court and face the person who had caused all of this grief and fear in her life, but she did it.”

Assistant District Attorney John Hawkins prosecuted the case.  Kevin Arnold represented the defendant.