21°
Jose Miguel Tapia, 38, who was already charged in connection to a drone contraband conspiracy at the Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI) in Hagerstown, continues to plot, despite being behind bars, according to the Attorney General's Office.
Prosecutors say that Tapia allegedly forged court documents and posed as a representative from the Office of the State's Attorney in an effort to cut time from his sentence.
The document was forged with the seal of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, which stated that he was to be awarded 449 days of additional, undeserved credit for time served in an effort to get out of prison early.
Once the paperwork was sent to the proper parties, Tapia then allegedly electronically faxed the fake order to the Clerk's Office and called to request that it be processed.
All from his prison cell.
However, Tapia's gambit didn't fool members of the Clerk's Office, who were quick to recognize the forgery and did not process his release, leading to an additional 13 criminal charges against him.
The schemer was just getting started.
According to Attorney General Anthony Brown, in a separate set of new charges, it is further alleged that Tapia used a contraband phone within his cell to facilitate what was described as "a complex identity fraud scheme," in which he assumed the identity of dozens of people, disguising his voice at times to impersonate elderly women in an attempt to steal their money.
Among the people Tapia posed as include two who had previously been life insurance clients of his wife, and hospital representatives to gain access to their systems.
"Tapia specifically targeted a company which provides electronic payments to hospitals and healthcare providers, changing the hospital's fax number to his own electronic fax number so he would receive faxes intended for the hospital containing virtual credit card numbers he could steal," prosecutors say.
In the second case, Tapia was hit with 40 new counts, including felony identity theft scheme and felony theft charges.
"If it had been successful, this inmate's complex scheme to impersonate government officials could have resulted in his escape from confinement and in his theft of numerous identifies that could have cost several people serious financial loss," Brown said.
Tapia is behind bars for his role in a previous contraband conspiracy at the Hagerstown facility where they used drones, a correctional officer, and hospital to help distribute drugs and other contraband.
He allegedly recruited two people on Instagram and paid them to fly drones over the fence at RCI to drop off the goods to him. Recovered packages during that investigation led to the recovery of drugs, tools, phones, phone chargers, SIM cards, headphones, and thumb drives.
Tapia is being held without bail at the Washington County Detention Center for the drone plot, which is scheduled to go to trial in December.
Want breaking news in the DMV as it happens, or want to contribute? Join the DMV All Incidents Facebook group.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Columbia and receive free news updates.
