OAN’s Abril Elfi
11:45 AM – Wednesday, November 1, 2023
A jury has convicted a Hawaii couple after they were found guilty of stealing the identities of dead babies for decades.
On Monday, a jury deliberated for about two hours and found a Hawaii couple, whose preferred names are Bobby Fort and Julie Montague, guilty of conspiracy, passport fraud, and identity theft, after they stole identities and lived for decades under the names of dead babies.
The couple first made headlines when authorities discovered images of them dressed in KGB uniforms. They also claimed that the couple made comments regarding topics “consistent with espionage.”
Assistant United States Attorney Tom Muehleck stated that the real Bobby Fort had been dead for more than 50 years and was an infant that had “a bad cough” and lived for three months.
One of the witnesses, Tonda Montague Ferguson, said that she was in the eighth grade when her mother gave birth to her sister, Julie Montague, in 1968.
However, the baby suffered birth abnormalities and died around three weeks later.
The two infants whose identities were stolen had been buried roughly 15 miles away from each other in Texas cemeteries.
According to prosecutors, the couple’s real identities are Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison.
They reportedly went to the same Texas high school, and a classmate who stayed in touch with them afterwards remembered how they lived with him for a short time and claimed that they planned to change their identities due to “significant debt,” according to Muehleck.
Prosecutors stated that the husband even used his forged identity to join the Coast Guard, making him 12 years younger.
The couple faced up to 10 years in prison when they were first convicted for charges of making false statements in the application and use of a passport, as well as up to five years for conspiracy charges and mandatory two-year consecutive terms for aggravated identity theft.
According to a criminal complaint acquired by Hawaii News Now, Primrose was awarded five U.S. passports in the name of Bobby Fort. They also stated that Morrison was awarded three U.S. passports under the name Julie Montague.
In addition, investigators discovered an invisible ink kit, documents containing coded language, and maps of military bases.
Soon after their arrests last year, the case garnered media attention since authorities believed that the couple was behind even more illegal activity and that their crimes were much bigger than identity theft.
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