A former Georgia Division of Family and Children Services employee has pleaded guilty to stealing the identities of more than 100 clients while employed at the department, prosecutors said.
Authorities said Tamika Anderson, 29, and another woman agreed to sell people’s names and Social Security numbers to a third party for cash, with Anderson pocketing $3,600.
She obtained the personal information from her office and then sent the names and numbers to Cassandra Clayton via text messages over a two-week period in September 2018, the Department of Justice announced Friday in a news release.
Authorities said Clayton did not work for DFCS, but was responsible for completing the sale to the third party at a restaurant in McDonough.
“Unbeknownst to Anderson and Clayton, the ‘buyer’ was an undercover agent,” authorities said.
Both women lived in Jonesboro.
Anderson pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and has a sentencing hearing scheduled for June 10.
Clayton, 44, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and was sentenced to three years of probation in January.
“DFCS provides critical services to some of Georgia's neediest and most vulnerable residents,” U.S. Attorney BJay Pak said. “These citizens depend on DFCS and its employees to do the right thing. For a state employee to exploit these people by stealing their identities is reprehensible.”
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