ID thief says he tried to do good

Deputy gets 5-year term for running license tags as part of fraud scheme

Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy Frantz Felisma wanted to be a superhero in the community, but instead he became a crook, using his work computer to steal identities for a man who ran an elaborate credit fraud.

Felisma, 43, wept and apologized in court Tuesday but was sentenced to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $175,000 in restitution.

He admitted he used his law enforcement job and his work computer to steal dozens of drivers’ identities over an 18-month period. He said he knew he had abused his position of trust.

“I struggled with admitting my guilt because I always tried to help and protect the community and instead caused so much

harm,” Felisma told the judge, between heaving sobs.

Handcuffed, shackled and wearing dark blue jail scrubs, he wiped away tears with a tissue.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” he said. “All my life, I just wanted to do good. … I don’t want to hurt nobody.”

Defense attorney Jason Kreiss said Felisma was viewed as a “superhero” and a pillar of the HaitianAmerican community who went above and beyond to assist people. He took phone calls from victims of domestic violence and others in need on his cellphone at all hours when he was off duty, friends said.

Felisma was a popular community volunteer and coach who won Deputy of the Year for the Delray Beach region just days before being arrested.

He previously claimed he had planned to use any money he made from his crimes to pay to send high school students to college and to get them soccer training.

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks told Felisma that he had done a significant amount of good for the community but had also committed serious offenses that damaged people’s “fragile” trust in law enforcement.

“Police officers have to be held to a strict code of conduct,” the judge said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Jorgensen said Felisma collaborated with a convicted felon he knew was using the information to fraudulently open credit card and bank accounts.

Kesner Joaseus, 47, pleaded guilty to his role and is serving 11 years in federal prison for that and a housing fraud conviction. Joaseus had agreed to testify against Felisma if he went to trial.

Investigators said Joaseus offered the deputy money to steal at least 50 identities, which were used to commit $175,000 worth of fraud.

Between January 2013 and September 2014, Joaseus targeted people he saw driving expensive cars by writing down their license plate numbers on pieces of paper that he gave to Felisma. The deputy then logged on to law enforcement databases, looked up people’s personal information, wrote it down on the corresponding piece of paper and gave it back to Joaseus, according to court records.

Felisma, of Boynton Beach, admitted he drove his marked patrol car to their meetings and sometimes ran the tags on his laptop computer inside the vehicle while Joaseus waited. The men exchanged more than 200 text messages during the course of their crimes, authorities said.

Investigators were not able to prove how much money, if any, Felisma received for his role in the fraud.

Felisma has been locked up in the Palm Beach County jail since his arrest on federal charges Dec. 21. He was placed on unpaid administrative leave Jan. 6, but the process of firing him has not yet been completed, according to the Sheriff ’s Office.

Felisma initially pleaded guilty to the fraud and identity theft charges in March but later withdrew his plea and said he was not guilty. He changed his mind in June and pleaded guilty again.

Several family members and friends spoke in court and wrote letters to the judge, asking him to give Felisma a lenient sentence and a second chance. The prosecution had recommended Felisma serve six years in prison. The defense said 41⁄2 years would be sufficient punishment.

Felisma was a former goalkeeper for the Haitian national soccer team who moved to South Florida and became a U.S. citizen. Supporters said he is a kind and generous man who volunteered his time to coach local youths and often gave money to people in need in Palm Beach County and Haiti, they said.

Lydia Charles said Felisma mentored her son when he was a teenager who appeared to be on the path to trouble. After Felisma took him under his wing, her son got heavily involved in sports and has joined the U.S. Army.

“If it wasn’t for Mr. Felisma … he probably would be in jail,” Charles said.

Kreiss said one of the reasons Felisma went back and forth on admitting guilt was because it was hard for him to acknowledge what he had done and to be humbled in front of the people who “revered” him.

The lawyer said even Felisma struggled to explain why he had broken the law.

“This is so out of character and that’s why I think everybody is in shock here,” Kreiss told the judge. “Mr. Felisma is someone who can return to the community and do some good.”

Felisma