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Esther Reed

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Esther Reed
StatusIn prison
Other namesElizabeth Reed
Brooke Henson
Natalie Fisher
Natalie Bowman
Jennifer Myers
Conviction(s)Fraud
Identity theft
Criminal chargeMail fraud
Wire fraud
Identity theft
Social Security fraud
Penalty51 months

Esther Elizabeth Reed (born March 8, 1978 in Townsend, Montana) is an American convicted on fraud and identity theft charges. She is best known for assuming a number of identities, including that of missing person Brooke Henson, to gain entry to universities.

Biography

Early life and education

Reed was born in Townsend, Montana to Ernie and Florence Reed in 1978 and was the youngest of Florence's eight children. When Ernie and Florence separated in the early 1990s Esther moved with her mother to Lynnwood, Washington, where she dropped out of high school after a year.[1]

Missing person

Reed disappeared in October 1999 shortly after she was convicted of stealing her sister's checkbook.[2] She was reported missing in 2004 by her father after Social Security checks revealed she was alive.[3]

She at various times claimed to be a skilled chess player and claimed chess tournaments as her income to friends to cover up her financial scams.[4]

Reed assumed the identities of a number of women to attend Harvard University, Columbia University and California State University, Fullerton under the identities Natalie Bowman and Natalie Fisher (the name of a friend's sister).[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Reed attracted the attention of the US Army Criminal Investigation Command when she attempted to procure a certificate from the Army's Assault School.[2]

She was exposed in New York in 2006 after a potential employer found her identity as Brooke Henson to be a missing person in South Carolina and reported her to New York City police, who also discovered shortly after that she was actually Esther Reed and was attending Columbia University as Brooke Henson.[9][12][13]

After agreeing to give DNA to prove she was indeed Brooke Henson, Esther Reed bailed and relocated to Chicago and again changed her identity to Jennifer Myers.[8]

She was featured on the United States Secret Service's 10 most wanted fugitive list and America's Most Wanted on the Fox Television Network.[14][15] She featured twice in 48 Hours Mystery episodes on CBS the first Capture the Queen aired in 2007 and the second Catch Her If You Can in 2009.[16][9]

Capture

Finally on July 2, 2008 in Tinley Park, Illinois she was captured after a local shooting at a Lane Bryant store caused police to run license plate checks on out-of-state plates. They found her car with Iowa license plates at a local Sleep Inn and arrested her.[16]

Conviction

Esther Reed was then extradited to South Carolina where she was tried on four felony charges. Her defense lawyers argued that her behavior was a result of mental illness caused by a strict family upbringing[17]

She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 51 months in prison. She is scheduled to be released from Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia in October of 2011.[6][16]

References

  1. ^ Ward, Vicky (February 11, 2009). "How an Ordinary Girl Faked Her Way Into the Ivy League". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  2. ^ a b Alpert, Lukas I. (January 8, 2007). "ID THEFT 101: BEAUTY CONS HER WAY ONTO IVYS' ROLLS AS AN ED. RINGER". New York Post. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  3. ^ Garvey, Marianne (January 12, 2007). "IVY GAL FLED HER PAST". New York Post. Retrieved 2009-09-30. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Stasi, Linda (December 1, 2007). "How Did She Do It?". New York Post. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  5. ^ Pignatelli, Margherita (February 19, 2009). "Reed Charged With ID Theft". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  6. ^ a b "Ivy League identity thief sentenced to 4 years". CBC. February 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  7. ^ Porter, Jane (August 28, 2008). "U.S. Colleges Stumped by Fraudulent Applications". Business Week. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  8. ^ a b "Con Artist Pleads Guilty to Stealing Missing Woman's Identity to Get Into Ivy League School". Fox News. August 19, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  9. ^ a b c "Capture The Queen". CBS News. December 1, 2007. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  10. ^ Tuchman, Gary (January 19, 2007). "Woman steals another's identity, gets into Ivy League". CNN. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  11. ^ "Esther Reed – The secret life of a sophisticated identity thief". Credit Identity Safe. February 8, 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  12. ^ Tuchman, Gary (January 19, 2007). "Woman steals another's identity, gets into Ivy League". CNN. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  13. ^ Biegelman, Martin T. (2009). "Entry to the Ivy League through ID theft". Identity Theft Handbook: Detection, Prevention, and Security. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 50–52. ISBN 0470179996.
  14. ^ Sullivan, Jennifer (February 6, 2008). "Mountlake Terrace con artist suspect nabbed after nearly a decade on the run". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  15. ^ "Most Wanted Fugitive Ester Reed Captured". Fiscal Year 2008 Annual Report (PDF). United States Secret Service. p. 15.
  16. ^ a b c "Catch Her If You Can". CBS News. May 9, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  17. ^ Leonard, Tom (February 11, 2008). "Ivy League identity thief 'was hiding from strict family'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
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