Detroit Man Faked His Identity, Gave Police Name of His Dead Brother before Going to Prison

Kevin Lee Gray was arrested for home invasion back in 2017, giving the police his dead brother, Sammie Lee Gray's name instead of his.

For two years, the Wayne County court system investigated and convicted Kevin Lee Gray under his dead brother's name, being sent to prison as Sammie Lee Gray.

In fact, on the Michigan Department of Corrections website, his file is still under Sammie, with all of his details including his supposed age at 35-years-old, despite him passing away at 22. All of these were accurate, except the picture was that of Kevin.

Discovering his Fake Identity

The deception was only discovered on June 4, as he was about to be released on parole at the Parnall Correctional Facility.

It turns out, they did not let him go because he himself was not able to provide the guards with important details, such as his birthday, social security number, and other identifiers that are commonly used.

"This parolee was not willing/able to correctly ID himself as he came through the gate. "He seemed not to know his date of birth, his soc # or any of the other identifiers commonly used, and we are not comfortable with allowing him to leave. He appears to resemble the picture on his current face sheet but everything else does not make sense," the officer wrote.

A Second Release

Although Gray was sent back to his cell because of what happened, he is still expected to be released on parole. As for why no one from the Prosecutor's Office figured out his true identity, it turns out their spokeswoman Maria Miller said they knew his aliases, but could not explain why his conviction was placed under his brother's name. To her, it must have been a clerical error.

It seems he used his brother's name to have some leniency in his hearing, as Sammie Lee Gray had never been to prison, but was sentenced to six months in the county jail back in 2002 for attempted possession of marijuana.

Meanwhile, Kevin Gray had been to prison twice for felony firearms offenses in 2007 and crimes related to stolen property and drugs in 2004.

Knowing the Truth

Regardless of the incorrect name and birthdate that were written on the Michigan website, its criminal history is still accurate. That's all because histories are tied to fingerprints, and not the information written on the biodata sheets.

Lucky for Grey, he will not be charged for faking his identity, because they already knew who he was at the time of his conviction.

Matters of Impersonation

While Grey got away for impersonation, a man named James Stern from Portsmouth, Rhode Island, was not so lucky after he impersonated a wedding officiant. The 39-year-old, who pretended to be an officiant to steal from the couple, faced charges for it.

The unlicensed minister married a couple from Massachusetts when they realized the bride's purse along with $200 dollars was missing from the room.

During the reception, the bride received phone alerts that show her credit cards making unknown purchases.

Moreover, when she went to search for her marriage license, it was non-existent.

All along, the couple believed Stern was a licensed officiant because he was voted the top officiant in Newport County by one of their local magazines.

It turns out, he had 51 entries on his criminal record and has an active warrant in New Jersey for theft and extensive criminal history in Rhode Island and Connecticut.