By Staff
LANSING – Attorney General Mike Cox Wednesday announced the conviction of convicted sex offender Bradford Storti of Rock, Mich., on charges of identity theft and uttering and publishing.
Storti pleaded guilty to attempting to falsely assume the identity of John Slapp, an infant from Rock who died in 1972.
It was alleged that Storti attempted to change his identity so that he could move to Oregon without having to register as a sex offender.
"Identity theft is a huge issue," Cox said. "Today's conviction makes clear that my office will vigorously prosecute those cases to the fullest extent of the law."
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 Jan. 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, which 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 10 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, Ore.
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.
Storti pleaded guilty in Ingham County Circuit Court to one count of identity theft, a five-year felony, and one count of uttering and publishing, a 14-year felony. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 24, 2007.
A copy of a consumer alert and additional information on identity theft are both available from the Michigan Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division by calling 1-877-SOLVE-88 (1-877-765-8388) or by accessing the Attorney General's Web site http://www.michigan.gov/ag.
"Convicted sex offenders will often take desperate measures to hide their true identities," Cox said. "The law enforcement community is working overtime to remain several steps ahead of them."