A Charlotte man dug himself a deeper grave this week after accidentally texting stolen identification information to his parole officer instead of the intended recipient.
The man, 25-year-old Kendell Bowden, was already in serious trouble after stealing the identity of 10 individuals in Mecklenburg County and Iredell County. He accessed the individuals’ store credit accounts at several different stores. Bowden also stole a victim’s information to take out loans in order to buy two cars. In total, Bowden stole $96,000. The thefts took place over a period of 20 months from 2015 to 2016.
Bowden was imprisoned on charges relating to these crimes and was later released on bail. The suspect had not learned his lesson, however, as he then proceeded to steal the identity of another victim in order to take out a credit card in their name. It was this victim’s information that Bowden unwittingly texted to his parole officer.
After the mistaken text was sent, Bowden realized what he had done and tried to ask the officer to delete the text saying that it was meant for his sister. The officer did not delete the text, however, and instead Bowden once again ended up behind bars.
The suspect is pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. If sentenced to the full extent, he could face up to 30 years in prison, as well as $1 million in fines.
Bowden was proven to be in league with another individual, 24-year-old Christopher Bryan Roach, who recently plead guilty to stealing the information of more than 300 medical patients, and defrauding more than 50 others. Roach was able to steal more than $250,000 from victims before his arrest.
Bowden awaits sentencing in federal court, and meanwhile is residing in jail.
