Hawaii couple who gained attention for posing in KGB uniforms convicted of stealing identities of dead babies
A jury has convicted a Hawaii couple of conspiracy, passport fraud and identity theft for stealing identities and living for decades under the names of dead babies. The couple initially made headlines after prosecutors found photos of them wearing KGB uniforms and alleged they said things "consistent with espionage."
Jurors deliberated for about two hours before reaching guilty verdicts Monday, according to court records.
The judge presiding over the trial in U.S. District Court in Honolulu referred to the couple by their preferred names of Bobby Fort and Julie Montague. The couple had argued in court that their actions did not harm anyone.
At the start of the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Muehleck said the real Bobby Fort has been dead for more than 50 years. The baby had "a bad cough" and lived 3 months, Muehleck said.
One of the witnesses who testified was Tonda Montague Ferguson, who said she was in the eighth grade when her mother gave birth to her sister, Julie Montague, in 1968. But the infant had birth defects and died about three weeks later, Ferguson said.
The two babies were buried in Texas cemeteries 15 miles (24 kilometers) apart, Muehleck said.
Prosecutors said the couple's real names are Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison.
They had attended the same Texas high school and a classmate who had been in touch with them afterward remembered they stayed with him for a while and said they planned to change their identities because of substantial debt, Muehleck said.
The husband even used his fake identity, which made him 12 years younger, to join the Coast Guard, the prosecutor said.
When they're sentenced in March, they face maximum 10-year prison terms for charges of making false statements in the application and use of a passport. They face up to five years for conspiracy charges and mandatory two-year consecutive terms for aggravated identity theft.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Hawaii News Now, Primrose was allegedly issued a total of five U.S. passports under the identity of Bobby Fort. Morrison was issued a total of three U.S. passports under the name of Julie Montague, the complaint says.
The case gained attention soon after their arrests last year because prosecutors suggested it was about more than just identity theft. Early on, prosecutors introduced Polaroids of the couple wearing jackets that appear to be authentic KGB uniforms. Investigators also found an invisible ink kit, documents with coded language and maps showing military bases.
Lawyers for the couple said they wore the same jacket once for fun and prosecutors later backed away from any Russian spy intrigue.
"She is not a spy," Morrison's attorney Megan Kau told Hawaii News Now last year.