Coventry, West Warwick Men to Plead Guilty in Identity Theft Scheme

Randolph Hurst, 50, of West Warwick, a former Assistant District Manager for the Social Security Administration in Rhode Island, has agreed to plead guilty to stealing the identity of a Coventry man and using the victim’s identity to fraudulently sell more than $160,000 worth of stock certificates belonging to the victim. He has also agreed to plead guilty to failing to paying $61,999 in taxes owed to the IRS.

According to a plea agreement filed with the U.S. District Court on Wednesday, Hurst will plead guilty to one count each of aggravated identity theft, transportation of stolen securities and tax evasion; two counts of mail fraud; and three counts of filing a false tax return.

A co-defendant in this matter, Justin Silveira, 29, of Coventry, has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. It is alleged that Silveira lied to a grand jury which was investigating this matter. The plea agreements in this matter are part of a package plea agreement whereas both defendants must plead guilty or both agreements will be vacated.

According to court documents, including an indictment returned in this matter in Nov. 2012, Hurst allegedly used personal identifying information belonging to the victim to open a joint account at Summit Brokerage Services in Providence in his name and in the name of the victim, without the his permission. He allegedly provided documentation to Summit purportedly authored and signed by the victim, requesting the deposit of two stock certificates owned by the victim. The victim claims he never authorized the deposit of the stock certificates and that he had not endorsed the stock certificates.

Court documents state that in Oct. 2010, without the victim’s knowledge, Hurst requested that Summit sell the stocks and issue a check in his name and in the victim’s name for $157,747.49, which represented a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the stocks, and that the check be sent by overnight courier to the Coventry address of Justin Silveira. It is alleged that on Oct. 22, 2010, the check was deposited into a bank account owned jointly by Hurst and his wife.

In addition, court documents allege that Hurst requested a check from Summit in October in the amount of $3,980.46, in his name and in the victim’s name, for the remaining proceeds from the sale of the stock, and that it be sent to the same address in Coventry. On Nov. 8, 2010, the check was deposited into a bank account owned jointly by Hurst and his wife.

Authorities believe Hurst and his wife spent the proceeds of the sale of the stock, $161,727.95, on personal items and expenses.

At sentencing, both Hurst and Silveira face statutory penalties of up to 10 years in federal prison followed by possible supervised release and fines upward of $250,000. 

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dulce Donovan.

An indictment is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.