C.B.P. News Release

Death Match Snares Brit Impostor at BWI

Feds Arrest Baltimore Resident for Allegedly Stealing Dead American’s Identity

(Thursday, July 15, 2010)

Baltimore – Federal authorities arrested British citizen John Skelton at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Monday night on charges of identity fraud, false statements, and being an impostor to a U.S. citizen.

U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) officials discovered that Skelton, 41, of Yorkshire, England, allegedly stole the identity of U.S. citizen Kurt Branham, who died in 1994.

DSS teamed with Customs and Border Protection officers to apprehend Skelton after the Brit presented a fraudulently obtained U.S. passport to re-enter the country after a trip to the United Kingdom.

Skelton, who resides in Baltimore, will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. The specific charges Skelton faces are for violations of 18 USC 1028, 18 USC 1542 and 18 USC 911.

[b]“Stealing another person’s identity is a very serious crime, but stealing the identity of a deceased citizen is despicable,â€