Man gets 9 years in COD student loan fraud case

One of four people charged with identity theft and student loan fraud was sentenced to nine years in prison today.

Lorin Brown, 36, of Monee, was convicted following a bench trial in August. He was also ordered to repay $319,670.

He and three others were accused of using stolen identities to apply for federal financial aid to attend online classes at the College of DuPage and University of Phoenix.

Jessie Wright, 26, of Glendale Heights, remains in jail and is expected in court Oct. 9. Two sisters who are also accused, Dasia Blue, 28, of Monee, and Olympia Blue, 32, of Glendale Heights, are wanted by police and arrest warrants have been issued, authorities said.

According to court records, the four are accused of using stolen personal information from 50 people to apply for student loans and directing payments of between $7,000 and $13,000 into accounts they controlled. They operated the scheme between January 2012 and February 2013, law enforcement officials said.

The scheme was uncovered when one of the identity theft victims who had never enrolled in either college contacted authorities after bills for tuition payments began arriving in the mail.