TAMPA – U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle has sentenced Coretta Rena Bates (32, College Park, Georgia) to 24 months in federal prison for aggravated identity theft. The court also entered an order directing Bates to pay restitution to the victim credit union in the amount of $167,117.50, the proceeds of the aggravated identity theft fraud scheme. Bates pleaded guilty on December 11, 2024.
According to court documents, Bates obtained the personal identification information of several individuals and counterfeit North Carolina driver licenses imprinted with Bates’s photograph and the identifying information of those victims. From April through July 2023, Bates used the identity documents to open lines of credit with a credit union and to withdraw cash advances in the names of those victims. Bates fraudulently obtained more than $167,000 from the credit union.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Hillsborough County Sherriff’s Office, with the assistance of the City of Brookhaven (Georgia) Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer.