A Daytona Beach resident was sentenced to 25 years in prison last week for stealing the identity of a comatose Texas man in order to take out several financial loans. Florida’s State Attorney’s Office revealed on Monday that in 2021, Donald Wood, 40, had used the identity of a coma patient to secure loans for several vehicles.
“Furthermore, he hacked into our victim’s bank account and tried to refinance his own house with this information he fraudulently obtained,” a release issued by the SAO read. Authorities began looking into the case in 2022 and reached out to the victim’s family to verify the transactions, reported CBS affiliate WKMG-TV . Investigators later reported that family members of the victim had found themselves locked out of their bank accounts and had received bills from “numerous financial institutions.”
Investigators also reported that the family had received a phony hospital bill totaling $3,000. The release also stated that: “Additionally, Wood and his accomplices applied for credit under the victim’s name in the amount of $75,000.” Investigators were later able to track most of the transactions back to Wood who has reportedly done this to several victims across the U.S.
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In April 2022, law enforcement officers were able to apprehend Wood and arrest him. Since the arrest, investigators have managed to open several additional cases against Wood and his henchmen. Wood was brought before a judge last week where he pled guilty to 21 felony charges…