BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Erie County DA John J. Flynn announced Wednesday that former Buffalo firefighter Robert Johnson Jr. was sentenced Tuesday afternoon to two to four years in prison.
Between July 2016 and January 2017, Johnson used two social security numbers that did not belong to him, fake employment claims and earnings claims to apply for four car loans and one credit card.
Two of the loans were approved and two were denied. Johnson was able to purchase two cars, and a credit card with a $20,000 spending limit. A year later, the cars were both repossessed and the credit card account closed with a balance in excess of $20,000.
In April 2022, Johnson pleaded guilty to all 8 charges in the indictment against him, including:
- Three counts of identity theft in the first degree
- One count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree
- One count of grand larceny in the third degree
- Two counts of attempted identity theft in the first degree
- One count of scheme to defraud in the first degree
As a part of his sentence, the judge ordered Johnson to sign a Confessions of Judgement in favor of the bank, totaling $59,784. The judge also ordered Johnson to sign a lack of permission affidavit in favor of the juvenile whose social security number Johnson used.
