Carroll Man Sentenced in Identity Fraud Case

October 2, 2009

A Carroll County man convicted of identity theft to avoid prosecution and driving on a revoked driver’s license was sentenced to 3½ years in prison this morning by Howard County Circuit Court Judge Louis A. Becker. Last July, a jury found Gerald Thomas Titus, Jr., 39, of the 2200 block of Gillis Road in Woodbine, guilty of assuming the identity of a childhood friend to fraudulently obtain a driver’s license used in place of his Maryland driver’s license that had been revoked. The scheme began to unravel with a December 4, 2007 traffic stop on Interstate 70.

A Maryland State Trooper stopped Titus just west of the West Friendship weigh station because Titus failed to pull into the station to have his truck and trailer weighed and inspected. During the stop, Titus presented a Florida driver’s license identifying himself as Frederick John Karr. Titus was ordered to return to the weigh station where he was charged with a number of traffic and safety citations. On each citation he signed the name of Fred Karr.

According to Howard County Assistant State’s Attorney Scott Hammond, months after the traffic stop, a lieutenant in the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office contacted the trooper, alerting him that Frederick John Karr was actually Titus. Following the discovery of the identity discrepancy an investigation was launched and Titus was subsequently charged.

At this morning’s sentencing hearing, Hammond told the court that Titus had been convicted of the offenses while he was out on work release for a prior offense, and that Titus had a number of criminal convictions including eight alcohol-related driving offenses and a revoked driver’s license with a lifetime accumulation of 155 points. At the conclusion of the hearing Judge Becker sentenced Titus to two years in prison for driving on a revoked license plus 18 months for using a fraudulent personal identity to avoid prosecution.