Prison officer admits to inmate ID theft, tax scam

TAMPA — A Pasco County corrections officer pleaded guilty to tax fraud in a case where authorities say he stole identities from former and current inmates so he could file false tax returns.

Jerry St. Fleur, 26, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Tampa. St. Fleur, a corrections officer at Zephyrhills Correctional Facility, unlawfully accessed and stole personal identifying information of Florida Department of Corrections inmates from January 2011 to this past May, the plea agreement states.

St. Fleur, prosecutors contend, would 'screen scrape,' or cut and paste, inmates' information from Department of Corrections databases without their knowledge or permission. He would then use that data to file the tax returns.