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STORY
Chula Vista worker had stolen identities
By Dong-Phuong Nguyen
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 17, 2000
SAN DIEGO -- He once was imprisoned for stealing people's identities. Yet for about three months this year, Charles Brown processed the payroll for the staff in the Chula Vista office of the Census Bureau, having access to their Social Security numbers, dates of birth and other private information.
Then he was promoted to supervise about 15 enumerators who went door to door to gather information from South Bay residents who hadn't mailed in their census forms.
Brown resigned last week after a television station reported he has a felony conviction, and now census officials are trying to find out how he passed an FBI background check that is intended to weed out people with criminal histories.
"We were kind of flabbergasted," John Reeder, regional director for the Census Bureau, said after hearing of the situation. "We are very concerned for our employees."
Reeder said enumerators did not ask residents for Social Security numbers or other private details when they canvassed the area. The main focus of the Census Bureau probe is whether Brown used information he had access to while working with the payroll department.
Last Friday, parole officers searched Brown's South Bay home and did not find evidence of any illegal or inappropriate dealings, said Lynda Ward, the deputy regional administrator for the California Department of Corrections Parole Division.
Brown could not be located for comment.
Brown, whose age is 46 according to the District Attorney's Office and 37 according to state corrections officials, is on parole stemming from a 1998 conviction for using relatives' names and Social Security numbers.
His scheme started to unravel after he fell behind on payments on a leased car.
Brown had assumed the identity of his cousin -- Lloyd Knighten -- to lease the car and qualify for a bank loan. But after he fell behind on payments, the bank tracked down a Lloyd Knighten Jr. in St. Louis. Knighten, who had been trying for months to clear his credit history and name, did not know his cousin had been using his identity.
The La Mesa car dealership from which Brown leased the car notified the La Mesa Police Department, which began an investigation.
Brown was found to have used a half-brother's Social Security number to enlist in the Army. Brown then assumed the name of that same relative, Gary Williams, and served in the Navy Reserves from 1986 to 1989. He obtained a California identification under the name Gary Williams, as well as a Social Security card.
As Gary Williams, he was convicted in 1994 of inflicting corporal punishment on a spouse and served time in state prison for the felony. He also has drunken-driving convictions.
Brown was sentenced to three years in prison for identity theft and was released in November 1999, with credit for either going to school or working while in prison.
While out, he was required to report to a parole officer once a month, Ward said, and apparently he never disclosed his new job until after it was reported on the news.
"It's not an appropriate job, considering his background," Ward said. "When we found out he had it, we had him resign."
According to Richard Arellano, the local census office manager in Chula Vista, Brown was a model worker.
"He was an excellent employee," Arellano said. "A reasonable gentleman. He was very professional in his work. That's the reason why we promoted him."
Brown had been working as a field operations supervisor when his background was reported.
Yesterday, the Census Bureau's security officials from Washington, D.C., and the state parole department were looking into the matter, Reeder said.
Brown is among the 3.5 million census workers nationwide who had to provide census officials with their names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers so that they could be screened. A background check was conducted against FBI files and those with serious marks were denied jobs.
Regionwide, that Census Bureau has about 315,000 employees. In the Chula Vista zone, which extends from about Interstate 8 to the border, it has about 7,000 workers.
Reeder said it was discovered a few months ago that a convicted sex offender was working in a census office in Merced.
"There's no perfect process," he said.
The news hit hard for the Census Bureau, which already has been faced with criticism that the census process is an invasion of privacy.
"It's devastating," Arellano said. "I wish it never would have happened."
------------------
Slowpoke Rodrigo...he pack a gon...
I voted for the Neal Knox 13
I'll see you at the TFL End Of Summer Meet!
Chula Vista worker had stolen identities
By Dong-Phuong Nguyen
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 17, 2000
SAN DIEGO -- He once was imprisoned for stealing people's identities. Yet for about three months this year, Charles Brown processed the payroll for the staff in the Chula Vista office of the Census Bureau, having access to their Social Security numbers, dates of birth and other private information.
Then he was promoted to supervise about 15 enumerators who went door to door to gather information from South Bay residents who hadn't mailed in their census forms.
Brown resigned last week after a television station reported he has a felony conviction, and now census officials are trying to find out how he passed an FBI background check that is intended to weed out people with criminal histories.
"We were kind of flabbergasted," John Reeder, regional director for the Census Bureau, said after hearing of the situation. "We are very concerned for our employees."
Reeder said enumerators did not ask residents for Social Security numbers or other private details when they canvassed the area. The main focus of the Census Bureau probe is whether Brown used information he had access to while working with the payroll department.
Last Friday, parole officers searched Brown's South Bay home and did not find evidence of any illegal or inappropriate dealings, said Lynda Ward, the deputy regional administrator for the California Department of Corrections Parole Division.
Brown could not be located for comment.
Brown, whose age is 46 according to the District Attorney's Office and 37 according to state corrections officials, is on parole stemming from a 1998 conviction for using relatives' names and Social Security numbers.
His scheme started to unravel after he fell behind on payments on a leased car.
Brown had assumed the identity of his cousin -- Lloyd Knighten -- to lease the car and qualify for a bank loan. But after he fell behind on payments, the bank tracked down a Lloyd Knighten Jr. in St. Louis. Knighten, who had been trying for months to clear his credit history and name, did not know his cousin had been using his identity.
The La Mesa car dealership from which Brown leased the car notified the La Mesa Police Department, which began an investigation.
Brown was found to have used a half-brother's Social Security number to enlist in the Army. Brown then assumed the name of that same relative, Gary Williams, and served in the Navy Reserves from 1986 to 1989. He obtained a California identification under the name Gary Williams, as well as a Social Security card.
As Gary Williams, he was convicted in 1994 of inflicting corporal punishment on a spouse and served time in state prison for the felony. He also has drunken-driving convictions.
Brown was sentenced to three years in prison for identity theft and was released in November 1999, with credit for either going to school or working while in prison.
While out, he was required to report to a parole officer once a month, Ward said, and apparently he never disclosed his new job until after it was reported on the news.
"It's not an appropriate job, considering his background," Ward said. "When we found out he had it, we had him resign."
According to Richard Arellano, the local census office manager in Chula Vista, Brown was a model worker.
"He was an excellent employee," Arellano said. "A reasonable gentleman. He was very professional in his work. That's the reason why we promoted him."
Brown had been working as a field operations supervisor when his background was reported.
Yesterday, the Census Bureau's security officials from Washington, D.C., and the state parole department were looking into the matter, Reeder said.
Brown is among the 3.5 million census workers nationwide who had to provide census officials with their names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers so that they could be screened. A background check was conducted against FBI files and those with serious marks were denied jobs.
Regionwide, that Census Bureau has about 315,000 employees. In the Chula Vista zone, which extends from about Interstate 8 to the border, it has about 7,000 workers.
Reeder said it was discovered a few months ago that a convicted sex offender was working in a census office in Merced.
"There's no perfect process," he said.
The news hit hard for the Census Bureau, which already has been faced with criticism that the census process is an invasion of privacy.
"It's devastating," Arellano said. "I wish it never would have happened."
------------------
Slowpoke Rodrigo...he pack a gon...
I voted for the Neal Knox 13
I'll see you at the TFL End Of Summer Meet!
