Colorado Suspect Concocted NFL Past

A Colorado man could be looking at 48 years in prison after a Jefferson county jury found him guilty of identity theft and aggravated motor vehicle theft, thedenverchannel.com reports. His crime: conning people out of personal information that he later used to secure loans and buy expensive cars. His con: telling people he was a former professional football player in order to earn their trust, according to prosecutors cited by the news service.

Prosecutors say 40-year-old Amadeus Harlan bought a Nissan Maxima in September 2007 in the name of a woman he said was his girlfriend, according to the site. He’d  obtained her financial information, Social Security number, and a copy of her driver’s license under the pretense that he was a former Denver Bronco starting a business related to sports tournaments, and that she should come work for him.

The woman found out about the unauthorized use of her identity as victims sometimes do—when the bank contacted her for a missed payment on the car. She pulled her credit report (something all consumers should do routinely) and discovered that she’d also unknowingly “purchased” a $50,000 Chevy Avalanche, according to thedenverchannel.com.

This wasn’t Harlan’s first brush with the law—according to the site he has 11 prior felony convictions, including one for homicide. In the week prior to his conviction for the automobile scheme, he’d been convicted for felony theft in Denver in relation to fraudulent check writing (that could carry a 24-year sentence, according to thedenverchannel.com).

His was a new twist on football player impersonation—the financial implications a bit more severe than those of the actions taken by the Pittsburgh man who allegedly pretended to be Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for purposes of picking up women (he was charged, in part, for defiling a $75 football jersey with a fraudulent autograph). Harlan’s sentencing for the Jefferson County case is slated for February 26.