Northern Kentucky man accused of trafficking in dozens of stolen IDs

A Taylor Mill man is accused of trafficking dozens stolen identities and using some of those identities for personal gain, court filings show.

John Sharp, 34, faces numerous criminal charges in Kenton County District Court, including forgery, misuse of computer information, identity theft, falsifying business records and perjury.

A criminal complaint from a Kenton County police detective shows the fraud scheme dates back at least to June.

Investigators in Northern Kentucky received information from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in Florida in September about a resident who complained about several accounts being opened in their name in Kentucky, but they never visited the state.

The complaint states that investigators executed a search warrant on a Gmail account linked to the fraudulent transactions and discovered that Sharp had backed up his data to the cloud associated with the email address.

Police checked photos and videos from the Gmail account, which showed Sharp used the identities of others “without their consent to obtain benefits and property and to conduct financial and credit transactions,” investigators said.

In addition to obtaining money and other goods through the alleged fraud, Sharp used the identities to access services from companies such as Altafiber and Progressive, the complaint said.

Investigators say Sharp fabricated fake driver’s licenses from several states using his photo and various identities. He also sold forged documents to others using active driver’s license numbers.

Sharp had photos of master lists of at least 53 identities, including names, birthdays, Social Security numbers and addresses, the complaint said, adding that he also had a similar list of business information to fabricate counterfeit checks.

Investigators say Sharp even started a company, Clean Slate Specialist, that uses fake and stolen identities to offer credit repair services.

Court records Wednesday morning did not say who represented Sharp in the criminal case, although they did indicate he has been appointed public defender.

According to a criminal complaint, Sharp was arrested at his home last week. He is being held at the Kenton County Detention Center and is expected to appear in court for a preliminary hearing Wednesday afternoon.