"As we have seen today, financial gain is not the only motive for identity theft. These charges should serve as a stern warning to those who believe that they may con their way out of registering as a sex offender," stated Cox.
In August 2005, Storti, a registered sex offender in Michigan, requested John Slapp's Birth Certificate from the State of Michigan Vital Records Office Internet site. The request was refused because Storti was not authorized to receive the record. On January 23, 2006, the Vital Records Office received a signed petition for the birth record of John Slapp, this time from an individual identifying himself as the deceased child. The request was accompanied by photocopies of a fraudulent Oregon driver's license, two credit cards, and a Social Security card, all in Slapp's name. While processing the request, an employee of the Vital Records Office discovered that Slapp had been deceased since 1972. The case was subsequently referred to the Attorney General's Office, who conducted the investigation in conjunction with the Identity Theft Unit of the Michigan State Police.
The investigation revealed that in 1999 Storti had been convicted of a federal charge of using a computer for the interstate shipment of child pornography. He was sentenced to three years and ten months imprisonment, followed by three years supervised probation, and was subsequently required to register as a sex offender in Michigan. The investigation also uncovered that the photograph on John Slapp's Oregon driver's license matched the photograph on Storti's Michigan driver's license. It was further discovered that the copy of the Social Security card provided to the Office of Vital Records had been issued in 1997 to someone residing in Beaverton, Oregon. Storti resided in Beaverton after he fled Michigan during the 1997 investigation of the federal pornography case. Finally, when Storti was arrested in Oregon, he was found to be using the alias John Slapp.
Concluded Cox, "It is amazing how far sex offenders and other desperate criminals will go to hide their true identities, but we in the law enforcement community will remain several steps ahead of them. Those who attempt to commit identity theft in Michigan will be prosecuted and punished."
