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Tuesday, July 31, 2001



ID theft suspect
may get off easy

Kansas law isn't strict; federal
prosecution would be tougher


By Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com

He used a Florida teenager's identity to get a Hawaii driver's license, register at Kailua High School and go to college on a football scholarship and $47,000 in student loans.

Although about five years older than his teammates and competitors, he joined the Kailua High School squad and helped lead them to the 1995 Oahu Interscholastic Association White Conference championship. His performance in a 1996 all-star game led to his recruitment by Bethel College in Wichita, Kan.

But while Lonnie Norris Webster IV, 29, who allegedly stole the identity of James Bradley Odom, of Pensacola, Fla., now faces multiple charges of identity theft and forgery, a Harvey County, Kan., prosecutor said yesterday that Webster is unlikely to face jail time unless federal authorities step in.

"It's most likely he'd be getting off with probation," said Matt Treaster, who will be prosecuting the Kansas case.

Likewise, Webster probably will not face any penalty for his actions in Hawaii.

A preliminary hearing, originally scheduled for today, was moved to Sept. 12 so the real James Odom can be present.

The delay also gives the U.S. Attorney's Office in Kansas time to review the case, which will go before a federal grand jury Aug. 8, Treaster said. He said the federal penalties are likely to be stricter.

The lenient Kansas laws surprised Treaster. "Until I pulled the books, I thought it would be a more severe penalty. I was shocked that it was not a presumptive prison case or at least have more of a prison sentence," he said.

Newton County Police Detective T. Walton, who arrested Webster in his dorm room Friday, said he hopes the federal attorney will step in to make sure Webster faces a prison sentence.

Webster is being held in the Harvey County jail in lieu of $30,000 bail.

Walton said he spoke with Odom on the phone yesterday. "His real concern, legitimately so, is the credit problem," Walton said.

In addition to the student loans, Webster, as Odom, had a few judgments against him for not paying bills and did not show up for court on them, Walton said.

Odom, a house painter, discovered that Webster was using his name when the judgments and student loans appeared on his credit report.

But Webster is "not a bad person, if you meet him," Walton said. "He's a really nice guy. He's just done some weird things."

According to Walton, Webster lost his driver's license in Pensacola and used Odom's name and Social Security number to get a driver's license while visiting his sister in Hawaii. From then on, "It's like this snowball rolling down the hill," Walton said. "It's a mess."

Webster cannot access his bank account or claim his last paycheck from Papa John's Pizza, even though he earned the money because they are in Odom's name. Walton said he has only about $300 in the account.

Although he did the work, his high school diploma and college credits are also in Odom's name.

Webster was a semester shy of graduation from Bethel. Odom dropped out of high school in his sophomore year and is working on his general equivalency diploma.

Even Webster's 1984 blue Volkswagen is registered to Odom, Walton said.

Bethel College President Doug Penner could not be reached for comment yesterday, but the Newton Kansan newspaper reported Saturday that the college had not yet decided whether Webster would be readmitted or if his credits would be honored.

"It's in our best interest, and in our student's best interest, not to move too quickly on this," he told the Kansas newspaper.

About Webster's acceptance into Kailua High School, Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen said it was still to be determined whether the transcripts Webster submitted were legitimate. "If in fact he had submitted false credentials -- someone else's transcripts -- certainly there would be grounds to rescind the diploma."

But if Webster actually completed all the courses, "it would be hard to challenge his meeting the criteria for graduation," he said.

At the least, "It seems that we would need to make some notation (on his record) that this is not the person that we thought it was," Knudsen said.

Kailua administrators do not return to school until next week and could not be reached for comment.

Even though his age would have made him ineligible to play football at Kailua, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association will not penalize Kailua for the football games Webster played in. "It's just too long ago," said Executive Director Dwight Toyama.

As for criminal charges, although it is possible that Webster could be tried for forgery, theft and unsworn falsification to authorities, Honolulu police will not pursue the case.

"The only fraud would be that he fraudulently went to school under an assumed name," said Honolulu police Lt. Owen Harada. "If there's no monetary loss, then we don't get into it."



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