COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former Columbus bakery owner who stole the identity of a deceased baby was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to six years in prison for committing 16 counts of wire and passport fraud, according to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker.
In 2003, Ava Misseldine, 50, stole the identity of a baby who died as an infant in 1979 and used the infant’s identity to obtain a passport, a student pilot license, a job as a flight attendant, and pandemic relief loans over the course of nearly 20 years.
Misseldine obtained approximately $1.5 million in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loans in 2020 using both her real and fake identities. Her loan applications list her businesses as various bakeries and catering companies located around Columbus.
She then used the pandemic relief loan money to purchase a home in Utah for $647,500 and another in Michigan for $327,500.
Misseldine was arrested in Utah in June 2022 and plead guilty in the Southern District of Ohio in October 2022.
As part of her sentence, Misseldine will pay more than $1.5 million in restitution and forfeit her Utah home and profits from the recent sale of her Michigan home, both of which she bought with stolen government money.
