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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

North Idaho man sentenced to federal prison for identity theft, lived under false ID for 16 years

A North Idaho man who assumed another person’s identity and moved to Tensed, Idaho to evade his sentence on a 2000 Colorado conviction for sexual assault of a child has been sentenced to federal prison for aggravated identity theft.

Kevin John Weinreis, 50, of Tensed, Idaho, pleaded guilty to using another person’s name, Social Security number and birthdate to apply for a U.S. Passport with his photo on it, and living under the false identify, including traveling out of the country for a vacation in Panama.

 Weinreis, who entered an Alford plea in 2000, acknowledging that Colorado could prove its case against him, to the child sexual assault charge, claimed he was falsely accused by his ex-wife of molesting their young daughter when the two were in the midst of bitter divorce proceedings, according to court documents. Under a plea agreement, he was sentenced to six months in jail and 15 years to life of supervised release. He served 90 days in jail, then enrolled in court-ordered sex offender treatment, but was dismissed from the program for continuing to assert his innocence.

A specialty house painter, “He had become a pariah in his community – he could not work and was shunned by lifelong friends,” Weinreis’ court-appointed attorneys wrote in documents filed with the court. With Colorado threatening to put him back in jail, “Mr. Weinreis then, indisputably, made a terrible choice.”

A friend gave Weinreis his identification, and he used it to move to California and live under the friend’s name. He and his longtime girlfriend then moved to Idaho. His attorneys wrote, “One fact looms over this case: Mr. Weinreis has virtually no criminal history before his 2000 offense, and outside of these charges, no criminal history since his 2000 offense.”

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill sentenced Weinreis Wednesday to 26 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Weinreis pleaded guilty on July 28.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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