Story Archive

Driven to Crime

Despite having the distinctive logo for Bentley luxury cars tattooed on his forehead, Derek Denesevich, 26, was an accomplished identity thief. His scheme was clever: he paid a Broward County, Fla., Clerk of Courts employee, whose name is Porscha Kyles, to get enough personal information on people out of state databases so that he could file fake tax returns for them, and steal their tax refunds — some 80 in all, netting him $57,238 in cash. But when his son was born, Denesevich decided to turn himself in, help the FBI catch other identity thieves, and have his tattoo removed. He has been sentenced to 1 year, three months in prison — rather than the 4-1/2 years he would have received had he not cooperated with the FBI. Kyles was sentenced to 3 years. Both were also ordered to pay restitution. Once the tattoo is gone, Denesevich will still have plenty to remind him: another tattoo, on his back, is a portrait of himself, complete with the Bentley tattoo. His son, now 2, is also named Bentley. (RC/South Florida Sun Sentinel) ...So he had a Bentley logo, drove a Porscha, and had the ethics of a Ford Pinto.