A man convicted of stealing thousands of dollars from the Greene County Sheriff's Office banking account is charged with committing the same crime against new victims. After he served time for a counterfeit conspiracy, John Dennis Sedersten was released. He was convicted in February of last year. According to police, once he was released he was back to his old criminal ways. Prosecutors charged him this week with trafficking stolen identities.
“It was a traffic stop the officers conducted and received consent to search the car,” Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson said. Inside the car police say they found a duffle bag filled with a printer, scanner, lap top, check software and printed backs to driver's licenses. “Basically they found everything a person would need to create fake id's and fake checks as well as some stolen identities to use real person's identities to do that,” Patterson said.
Someone stole Calvin Burgess' son’s birth certificate and social security card from their home. Burgess says when he found out who had the personal information in their possession it was even more worrisome. “It's pretty scary I guess when you realize what they've already taken,” Burgess said. Federal investigators say Sedersten and two other men stole more than $108,000 by stealing checking account information and personal identities. “It's sad it seems some crimes they get a lot of punishment for and other crimes they seem to get away with,” Burgess said. “At least they got him now.”
Sedersten was sentenced to 32 months but according to police the time behind bars didn't change his ways. According to court documents they found personal information for at least seven new victims. “It can be devastating because if those matters are reported on your credit history and it's very difficult to change your social security number,” Patterson said. “That person often has to deal with credit inquiries and credit being denied and all sorts of problems that it creates for a victim. They are very difficult to fix.”
Police say Sedersten told them he would forge ID cards and counterfeit checks for a man who would provide him with the social security cards and birth certificates. Burgess says someone stole items from his home three times before stealing his son's personal information.
Sedersten received credit for time already served awaiting his conviction and sentencing. He was also ordered to pay more than $82,000 restitution. By violating his terms of supervised release he could be sent to prison.
