VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A Daytona Beach man was sentenced to 25 years in prison last week after stealing the identity of a comatose Texas man, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
In a release on Monday, SAO officials announced that the Daytona Beach man — Donald Wood, 40 — stole the comatose man’s identity back in 2021, using the personal information to take out loans for several vehicles.
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“Furthermore, he hacked into our victim’s bank account and tried to refinance his own house with this information he fraudulently obtained,” the release reads.
In 2022, investigators with the SAO began looking into the case and contacted the victim’s family, SAO officials explained.
However, investigators said they discovered that the family had been locked out of their bank account and received bills from “numerous financial institutions,” including a fake hospital bill for $3,000.
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“Additionally, Wood and his accomplices applied for credit under the victim’s name in the amount of $75,000,” the release adds.
Ultimately, investigators said they were able to trace these incidents back to Wood, though they also identified several other victims from across the U.S., too.
As a result, Wood was arrested in April 2022, and additional investigations have been opened against Wood and his accomplices over these cases.
But that’s not all: SAO officials also announced that one of their investigators — identified as Diego Besse — put in effort to help the Texas man and his family recover from the identity theft.
“(Besse) has written letters and personally called numerous credit card companies, bank entities, car dealerships and insurance companies to provide proof to ensure the family’s fraudulent financial liabilities were removed and their assets and credit reinstated,” SAO officials explained.
On Sept. 27, Wood pled guilty to the following charges:
- Organized scheme to defraud over $50,000
- Fraudulent use of personal identification information of a specified individual — 14 counts
- Fraudulent use of personal identification information — 3 counts
- Tampering in felony second-degree proceeding — 2 counts
- Mortgage fraud
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