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May 29, 2005
Hometown ID Fraud??
This is disturbing news. (registration req'd but the article is worth reading in its entirety)
THE FBI PROBE Documents obtained by the Democrat-Gazette regarding the FBI investigation point to 313 state driver’s licenses or identification cards issued to individuals claiming to live at four addresses in Leslie and Tilly, rural mountain communities in the north-central part of the state. Leslie in southeastern Searcy County has an official population of 482. Tilly, which is in Pope County, is not incorporated.
The addresses are listed on Hefner Road, Express Lane, and Route 85 in Leslie, and on Rockwall Lane in Tilly. Local police and staff at the Searcy County clerk’s office say they’ve never heard of those roads in Leslie.
Rockwall Lane runs between Pope County and Van Buren County but officials in both counties say they have no record for a number 204 on that road.
I lived around those areas most of my life, and I've never heard of those roads either. And there's no way in hell there's 300 people at all four of those addresses. Coon dogs maybe, people no way. Hell, Tilly's just a little wide spot in the road way out in the boonies with a gas station and a post office.
But there is something those towns do have in common.
'Kill your neighbor' anti-government wackos and/or white supremacists. Though the latter is more common in Russellville, where most of the licenses and ID cards were issued.***
Now it could just be a case of some people selling documents to illegals. But my gut feeling is that there may be much more to the story than that.
At any rate, it's definitely a story I'm going to be following.
I have to admit I snickered when I saw that none of the licenses came from the Searcy County office. I know the lady who runs that office very well, and I pity the fool who tries to run a scam on her.
Posted by Rita at May 29, 2005 07:41 AM