Authorities: Nurse stole elderly patient's identity, used it to get loans, credit cards

A licensed practical nurse at a Smithfield nursing home is charged with stealing a patient's identity and then racking up loans and credit card charges in the elderly man's name, authorities said Wednesday.

Jessica Annette Williams, 35, of Fayetteville, faces five felony counts of identity theft and one count of obtaining property by false pretense. She was released after posting $20,000 bond.

Williams is accused of stealing the identity of a disabled 88-year-old man who lives at the Barbour Court Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, at 515 Barbour Road in Smithfield. Between June 2019 and last December, she used the stolen identity to set up credit card accounts with BB&T, Capital One and NetSpend, which she then used to obtain cash and make purchases, including more than $18,000 on one day in December, investigators said.

Williams also obtained two personal loans totaling $11,500 from the Navy Federal Credit Union in the man's name, investigators said.

Because she also worked at a retirement community in Southern Pines, police there are investigating whether anyone was victimized.