In a surprising turn of events, a couple previously suspected of potential KGB affiliations has been found guilty of assuming the identities of two deceased infants for several decades.
This elaborate ruse was maintained even as one of them secured a security clearance within the Department of Defense.
Walter Primose, a Coast Guard veteran, and his wife, Gwynn Morrison, both in their sixties, were convicted on Monday in Hawaii of conspiracy, passport fraud, and identity theft. Throughout their trial, the presiding judge addressed them by their chosen, or rather pilfered, identities: Bobby Edward Fort and Julie Lyn Montague. These were the names of two infants who passed away in Texas during the couple's residence there.
According to the prosecution, Primose exploited his counterfeit identity to enlist in the Coast Guard, despite the fact that it made him appear twelve years younger. This false identity was also used to secure driver's licenses, passports, and even credentials for the Defense Department. In his role as a defense contractor, Primose was granted secret security clearance.
A former high school classmate of the couple from Texas suggested that their motivation for changing their names was to evade substantial debt. The State Department confirmed that the couple had lost their Texas home to foreclosure.
The case garnered attention last year when prosecutors presented images of the couple dressed in what seemed to be genuine KGB uniforms. Assistant US Attorney Thomas Muehleck proposed that Morrison had a "close associate" residing in Romania during its time as a Soviet bloc country. The prosecution also suggested the possibility of the couple having additional aliases.
However, the prosecution later retreated from the espionage angle after the couple's attorneys argued that the jackets were worn in jest on one occasion.
Upon their sentencing in March, the couple could face up to ten years in prison for charges of making false statements in the application and use of a passport. They could also face up to five years for conspiracy charges and mandatory two-year consecutive terms for aggravated identity theft.
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