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Can Identity Theft Turn You into a Prostitute?

July 29, 2009 – 4:54 pm

The scary and short answer is yes, at least according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Linda Norris was pulled over by an FHP officer and when her ID was checked it showed that she had an outstanding warrant for parole violation stemming from an earlier prostitution charge. The thing is, Ms. Norris has never been a prostitute let alone been arrested and convicted on the charge — a fact that was backed up by documentation she produced from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. A former roommate, however, can’t claim that. Regardless Norris was arrested and booked in jail until her release some five hours later.

That roommate, Colleen Wehunt, has been plaguing Linda Norris for years due to Wehunt using Norris’ identity as an alias on many occasions. In case you couldn’t guess, Wehunt isn’t exactly a model citizen. She has a rap sheet going back to 1993. Still due to one unfortunate boarding partnership and Wehunt’s illegal use of Linda Norris’ name, these are problems that Norris will have to deal with for the next few years.

Even though she has a document provided by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office saying that her and Wehunt are not the same person, it doesn’t hold up a legal proof of the fact. That means that Norris can still get arrested or charged with Wehunt’s crimes and has no way to prove herself innocent until she’s booked in the jail and the fingerprints show as not matching. This is why it’s so important to protect your identity. You don’t want to gain a false reputation like poor Colleen.

Tags: arrested, booked, ID theft, identity theft, parole, prostitute, prostitution, warrant