Plea deal in identity theft case

Published 7:13 pm Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Lynnette Clark

Lynnette Clark

 

A guilty plea in a case of identity theft has sent an Edward woman to prison.

Lynnette Dawn Clark, 31, pleaded guilty to two counts of financial identity fraud in Beaufort County Superior Court Tuesday.

In the plea arrangement, the State agreed not to charge Clark with four other felony charges, nor indict her as a habitual felon.

The two felonies Clark plead to involve two separate incidents in which she used stolen bankcards. The first count involved a crime of opportunity: a wallet left in the dashboard of truck on June 16 of this year. The second, on July 13, was more elaborate.

Assistant District Attorney Ray Cameron summarized the incident before Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons Jr.: Clark knew the second victim and visited her home, luring the victim outside while Clark went inside to steal the bankcard. Wells Fargo would later alert the victim that her card had been used to make five transactions the bank deemed suspicious, Cameron said.

Clark’s defense attorney, Laura Gibson, said that on first meeting with her client, Clark admitted to the crimes and said she wanted to pay the money back. Gibson asked that the 54 days Clark had already served be credited to her sentence, a request Sermons granted.

For the two Class G felonies, Clark was handed an active sentence of a minimum 11 months, maximum 23 months, in prison; and a minimum 15 months, maximum 27 months, suspended sentence to begin at the expiration of the first. In addition, Clark will be on probation for 30 months.

“If you’re out there running around, up and down Highway 33 — if you’re violating your curfew, I’m going to send you back to prison,” Sermons said.

When asked if she could do community service, Clark said lack of a driver’s licenses prevent her from taking part in community service and holding down a job.

“I can’t get a job because I don’t have any transportation and because of my record,” Clark said.