Inmate pleads no contest to ID theft counts

It just shows you that you cannot control who gets and uses your personal information.

A Multnomah County jail inmate accused of pretending to be a grandson who needed cash to bail out of jail has pleaded no contest to multiple counts of identity theft.

Prosecutors say 44-year-old Stephen Lee Brown's crimes included impersonating the 20-year-old grandson of an 86-year-old Portland couple in March. The grandparents took a cab to the jail. Jail employees caught on to the scheme before the couple could deposit $1,500 in Brown's jail account.

Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Henry Kantor ordered that Brown repay their $50 cab fare.

The judge also sentenced Brown to six years in prison and recommended that prison officials keep him away from phones.

Deputy District Attorney Chuck Mickley says 29 of Brown's 66 convictions have been for crimes committed while he was in jail or prison. As Brown pointed out to the judge, the prison yard is full of phones.

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Information from: The Oregonian