Alabama AG King Announces Conviction For Trafficking In Stolen Identities And Computer Crime Involving Medicaid Data

October 9, 2007 -- (MONTGOMERY) — Alabama Attorney General Troy King announced the conviction today of a Montgomery woman for identity theft. Kwantrice M. Thornton was arrested August 6 on a warrant brought by Attorney General King's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and this morning she pleaded guilty as charged, in an information document filed with the Montgomery County Circuit Court.

Kwantrice M. Thornton, 24, was formerly employed at Electronic Data Systems, the company responsible for processing Medicaid claims for the State of Alabama. She admitted that she obtained the names and identifying information of 498 Alabama Medicaid recipients and subsequently sold 50 of those identities to other individuals to be used in filing fraudulent federal tax returns.

Article continues below...

Specifically, Thornton pleaded guilty to trafficking in stolen identities, a class B felony punishable by two to 20 years imprisonment and up to a $30,000 fine; and violation of the Alabama Computer Crimes Act, a class C felony punishable by one to 10 years imprisonment and up to a $15,000 fine. She is scheduled to be sentenced on October 23.

"I cannot overstate how important it is for Alabamians to be constantly on guard against the crime of identity theft," said Attorney General King. "This case is about the theft of 498 identities from one company, by one person. It is a stark reminder that we are all targets. We must take every precaution to never become easy targets. I urge everyone to log on to my website, www.ago.alabama.gov., frequently for valuable information that will educate you and protect you from identity theft.

All Medicaid recipients whose information was stolen were notified in February by the Alabama Medicaid Agency and provided with information and assistance to protect themselves from identity theft. At that time, the agency offered a toll-free number that was in effect through the end of March. The affected recipients were advised they could have fraud alerts placed on their credit files at no charge, and were offered free credit monitoring for the next year, free identity theft assistance, and up to $20,000 of identity fraud expense coverage with no deductible.

The conviction is the result of an investigation conducted by Attorney General King's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Alabama, the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Attorney General King commended Senior Special Agent Gerald Shockley and Special Investigator Tracey Edwards, who handled the investigation and arrest for his office, and Assistant Attorney General Bruce Lieberman, chief of the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, who prosecuted the case.

Source: Alabama Attorney General