An Orlando man who managed to avoid capture for seven years has finally been sentenced to nearly five and a half years in federal prison for committing fraud and identity theft.
Sean White, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron after pleading guilty to the charges on August 1, 2023. His crimes, which date back to early 2016, involved a complex scheme that defrauded financial institutions and led to the purchase of luxury vehicles under stolen identities.
White, along with his accomplices, Jamie Fort and Sena Howell, orchestrated a plan to use stolen personal information—such as names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers—to deceive several Orlando-area banks.
According to the indictment, they created fake driver’s licenses to secure loans in the names of their victims. With these fraudulent loans, the trio purchased three high-end vehicles: two Mercedes-Benz cars and a Cadillac Escalade. After acquiring the vehicles, they quickly sold them for cash.
In addition to the vehicles, the group used counterfeit identification to obtain credit for other purchases in the Orlando area. While Howell and Fort were apprehended and sentenced in 2017—receiving 27 months and five years and five months in prison, respectively—White managed to evade arrest by assuming the identity of one of his victims.
White’s luck ran out in 2023 when authorities finally tracked him down. He was living under a false name, continuing to hide from law enforcement. Upon his arrest, White faced several charges related to his fraudulent activities.
In the plea deal reached with prosecutors, White received a 65-month prison sentence, which includes 41 months for fraud and an additional 24 months for aggravated identity theft.
As part of the agreement, the government agreed to dismiss seven other charges of fraud and identity theft that were initially brought against him. After serving his sentence, White will be placed under supervised release for three years.
In addition to the prison time, White was ordered to forfeit items used in his illegal activities, including an HP laptop, a ZTE cell phone, and a Lexar SD card. These items were seized during a search in March 2016 and were linked to his fraudulent scheme.
White’s arrest and sentencing mark the end of a long pursuit by law enforcement, but it also highlights the ongoing problem of identity theft in Florida. The state has been a hotspot for such crimes, with identity theft consistently ranking as a leading complaint to the Federal Trade Commission.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida remains active in prosecuting these types of cases. In a recent example, William Fisher, a 60-year-old man from Melbourne, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for making unauthorized purchases and stealing mail.