Milwaukee County Woman Sentenced In Identity Theft Case

MADISON - Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced that a Milwaukee County woman was sentenced today for identity theft.

Van Hollen said that Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Cimpl sentenced Conswela Taylor, 33, to 5 months of incarceration as a condition of 3 years of probation. Other conditions of probation include: no contact with the victim, restitution, no work as a caregiver, mental health monitoring and treatment, alcohol and other drug assessment and treatment, vocational training. If Taylor is revoked for non-compliance with the terms of probation, she may be re-sentenced to prison. Taylor was convicted on May 8, 2009, after entering a plea of guilty to one count of unauthorized use of an individual's personal identifying information, a Class H Felony.

The charge stems from Taylor's employment as a caregiver for developmentally disabled adults at the Wahner House, a community based residential facility in Brown Deer.  According to the criminal complaint filed by the Department of Justice, Taylor stole the identity of Pamela E., a resident of the facility who suffers from profound cognitive disability and cerebral palsy.  Specifically, Taylor misappropriated the victim's name and social security number, to which she had access because of her caregiver position.  Then, Taylor created an MCI telephone account by calling MCI and posing as Pamela E.  Taylor obtained residential phone services for several weeks until she was caught by her employer.  The bill for services was never paid.

Van Hollen said, "The mentally disabled rely on caregivers for help with every aspect of daily living. It is essential that the people who are entrusted with providing care should not take advantage of these vulnerable members of our community. Fortunately, the majority of caregivers in Wisconsin do not engage in such conduct."

This case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Eric Defort of the Medicaid Fraud Control and Elder Abuse Unit.