IDENTITY THIEF CONVICTED IN ATTEMPT TO FAKE OWN DEATH

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today the conviction of Dee Deirdre Farmer, also known as Douglas Farmer, 41, for Obstruction of Justice and Misuse of a Death Certificate.

Farmer, of the 3800 block of Elmley Avenue in Baltimore, admitted before Judge Roger Brown of the Baltimore City Circuit Court that he had forged a court order to try to change a death certificate of someone else to reflect that he, Farmer, had died. When Farmer presented the forged court order to the State Division of Vital Records, something about the order “didn’t look right” to the agency staff, so they reported it to the Attorney General’s Office. After investigation, it was discovered that the Order was a complete fabrication, prepared by Farmer in the hopes of being able to use the altered death certificate to get unrelated criminal charges pending against him in federal court and Baltimore County Circuit Court dismissed.

Farmer also admitted to forging an Affidavit, ostensibly in the name of a Lt. William Cherry of the Baltimore County Police Department, to the effect that crimes committed in the name of Farmer were actually committed by a Larry Prescott, who the affidavit claimed, had stolen Farmer’s identity. In fact, Farmer had stolen Prescott’s identity 20 years ago, and Lt. William Cherry does not exist. Farmer filed this fraudulent “affidavit” in an unrelated Baltimore City Circuit Court criminal case pending against him, presumably in an effort to get those charges dismissed as well.

Farmer, who has a long criminal record, was not sentenced today; sentencing is scheduled for January 16, 2007.

The case was referred to the Criminal Investigations Division of the Attorney General’s Office by the State Division of Vital Records, and was investigated with the assistance of the Maryland State Police.