Will's 'double' jailed
2005-12-30 09:10
Pittsburgh - A man who stole Will Smith's identity to run up credit-card debts is going back to prison for two years for violating probation, a judge has ruled.
Judge Alan N Bloch concluded on Tuesday that Carlos Lomax, 45, formerly of Duquesne, Pennsylvania, was "not amenable" to probation, according to defence lawyer Mark Lancaster.
Lomax failed to rehabilitate himself and make restitution to his victims while on supervised release, US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said.
He was sentenced to 37 months in prison - later reduced to 30 months - after pleading guilty to opening 14 bogus credit accounts at Pittsburgh-area stores using the identity of Willard C Smith, the legal name of the rapper-turned-actor.
Lomax was released from a halfway house in June.
Lomax has an earlier identity-theft conviction involving former Atlanta Hawks basketball player Steve Smith, now a TV commentator for the team.
Federal case
Lomax was on probation after serving time for that crime - he ran up $81 000 (about R513 105) on an American Express card in the basketball player's name - when he was arrested in the Will Smith case.
A federal judge had ordered Lomax to repay American Express, plus another $190 000 (about R1.2m) to other companies whose credit he fraudulently obtained.
That money has gone unpaid, Assistant US Attorney Margaret Picking said.
Lomax obtained court permission to move to Atlanta in August, but federal probation officials there refused to supervise him, Lancaster said.
Pay his dues
When Lomax did not return to western Pennsylvania this fall, federal probation officials in Pittsburgh obtained an arrest warrant for him.
Lancaster argued on Tuesday that Lomax was working in Atlanta and planned to repay more than $64 000 (about R405 490) he owes to credit-card companies and other victims.
Lomax charged nearly $33 000 (about R209 068) on accounts he opened in Will Smith's name.
Bloch ordered Lomax to pay about $64 000 (about R405 490), a sum that includes purchases Lomax made using Smith's name and that of a retired, unidentified pro football player.
Smith appeared in TV's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and in the films Independence Day, the Men in Black movies and Ali.
- AP