Colorado Man Sentenced for Identity Fraud, Passport Fraud, Possession of Stolen Goods, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon

SHREVEPORT, LA—United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that William Lyman Agnew, 55, of Cripple Creek, Colorado, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Tom Stagg, to 51 months in prison with three years’ supervised release for identity fraud, passport fraud, possession of stolen goods, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

According to evidence presented in court hearings, Agnew fled Cripple Creek, Colorado, after stealing property and possessions from a residence there in October 2010. Agnew came to Louisiana in January 2011. While in Louisiana, he obtained and used four false identities and obtained driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, birth certificates, and other forms of identification. He also attempted to obtain a U.S. passport using one of his false identities. The FBI in Monroe, Louisiana, discovered Agnew was living and working in Monroe at a local business and arrested Agnew on April 3, 2012. After Agnew’s arrest, many of the items stolen in Colorado were found and seized by federal agents at a storage unit in Monroe that Agnew had rented under one of his false names.

The Cripple Creek, Colorado Police Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in Colorado and Louisiana; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General; and the U.S. Department of State-Diplomatic Security Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Gillespie, Jr. prosecuted the case.