PBSO deputy charged with identity theft

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Some call it the ultimate breach of public trust.

Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputy Frantz Felisma faced a federal judge in West Palm Beach on Thursday, charged with stealing people's personal information from his department-issued laptop, and selling it.

Federal agents say the man to whom Felisma sold the information, then set up credit card and bank accounts, and ran up tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges in the names of at least 15 victims.

"There is so much information contained within those databases," said former FBI agent Stuart Kaplan, who's now an attorney based in Palm Beach Gardens.

Kaplan said a law enforcement officer has access to the driver and vehicle information system, as well as the FBI's crime database.

"And if that information gets into the wrong hands, unfortunately it could have devastating consequences," said Kaplan.

Court documents indicate Felisma's alleged co-conspirator pled guilty to identity fraud this past summer. The man, according to agents, said he paid Deputy Felisma thousands of dollars for information on drivers of high-end cars.

"Ironically, what's kept in the National Crime Information Center (FBI database) is those people who have already been victimized by identity theft," Kaplan pointed out, meaning some have likely been victimized multiple times now.

Kaplan explained there are mechanisms for consumers to have fraudulent charges forgiven, but victims often spend their whole lives staying on top of their credit reports.

Felisma, a road patrol deputy, is due back in court next week, as prosecutors try to hold him no bond.

If convicted as charged, Felisma potentially faces more than 20 years in prison.