Woman pleads guilty to ID theft and gets 10 year federal prison sentence

TAMPA — A federal judge sentenced a 39-year-old woman to 10 years in prison Friday for stealing people's identities and then opening bank accounts in their names.

Michelle Morton, of Land O' Lakes, pleaded guilty on Oct. 20, 2009 to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, admitting that she took wallets, purses, driver's licenses, checks, Social Security cards from several elderly victims, and opened bank accounts in their names, depositing the checks, according to a U.S. Attorney's office news release.

U.S, District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich ordered Morton to pay nearly $19,000 in restitution, the amount she made from her identity theft scheme. Morton had more than 40 prior convictions before Friday's sentencing, officials said.