A former Marine has admitted to stealing his brother’s identity in order to join the Navy.
Jason Robert Daniels has pleaded guilty to identity theft, fraud and misuse of a Social Security number. He used his brother’s name, Douglas Arvil Daniels, to enlist in the Navy in Detroit, Mich. in January 2008 after having been discharged from the Marine Corps for disciplinary infractions six months prior.
Once enlisted in the Navy, Daniels was deployed to Guam, where he worked as a corpsman at the hospital from February 2008 to September 2009. According to court documents, about $60,000 in wages was direct-deposited into a federal credit union account, an account held in Daniels’ alias.
Daniels also used the alias to open bank accounts, and get credit cards and personal loans. He changed the beneficiary of his $400,000 military life insurance policy to his “brother” – which was really himself – and created a will that left everything to “Jason Daniels.” He then left a suicide note at his residence in an attempt to kill of his fake identity.
Daniels left Guam in early September 2009, and was discharged from the Navy Sept. 21, 2009. He was arrested in Bolingbrook, Ill. in August 2010. He has been charged with 10 counts of wire fraud, four counts of financial institution fraud, access device fraud, six counts of misuse of a Social Security number and four counts of aggravated identity theft.
He has offered to plead guilty to the charges, and has signed the offer, but the agreement won’t be official until a federal judge approves it, and no plea hearing has been set to date.
