Two involved in scheme to steal identities of the dead

Friday, March 17th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- An Arkansas man has been indicted in a scheme in which authorities say he and an Oklahoma man stole the identities of dead people and purchased vehicles using the names and credit histories of the dead.

The indictment returned Thursday by a federal grand jury in Little Rock charges Peter Merness Morford III, 22, of Malvern with one count of conspiracy, two counts of identity theft and one count of inter state transportation of property taken by fraud. Garry DonBuchanan of Tulsa, Okla., was named as an unindicted conspirator.

"This is especially hard on (the dead's) loved ones," U.S. Attorney Paula Casey said.

The men met in 1997 when they attended a mortuary school in Dallas. In spring 1999, Morford was working as a car salesman at a Little Rock dealership but Buchanan had continued working in funeral services in Tulsa, according to the indictment.

The alleged scheme began when Buchanan tried to buy a used pickup truck from Morford but was turned down for financing. The two allegedly agreed Buchanan would get information from the file of a dead person from the funeral home where he worked and the data would be used on a credit application for Buchanan.

The indictment states they used information from the late Wilburn Everidge for an application for a $29,000 loan.

Morford delivered the truck to Buchanan in Oklahoma City. The indictment says the truck was in Everidge's name.

About a month later, Morford wanted to buy a car from a co-worker, the indictment alleges, but he too ran into credit trouble. He allegedly used the name of the late Charles E. Carter of Tulsa.

The conspiracy charge against Morford carries a sentence of up to five years in prison. Identity theft carries a prison term of up to 15 years and the interstate transportation of property taken by fraud has a 10-year prison penalty. Each charge carries a fine of up to $250,000.

Casey says the identity theft charge gives prosecutors more to work with than fraud statutes.

"I've talked with victims who've had their identities stolen, their Social Security numbers taken," Casey said. "People can apply for loans, declare bankruptcy, do all kinds of things; it can really destroy somebody's life."

Casey said the case is the first she has seen in her seven years in office in which a dead person's identity was stolen.