Antioch man sentenced to prison for ID theft

John Grandt has grown quite attached over the years to a 48-year-old man from downstate Evergreen.

Attached at least to the man's name and birth date, as Grandt was sentenced to two years in prison Wednesday for getting caught for the fourth time identifying himself as the man he has never met.

Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Ryan Koehl said Grandt, of the 200 block of Anita Terrace in Antioch, was stopped by Antioch police on March 13 for making a left turn without signaling.

Grandt told the officer he had left his driver's license at home, Koehl said, and provided the name and birth date of the resident of the small community near Chester as an alternative identification.

The officer became suspicious and asked Grandt to recite his Social Security number, which Grandt was unable to do.

Koehl said Grandt was taken into custody, and police discovered he had been convicted of using the man's identification three times in the past.

Grandt received probation for a 2005 conviction for attempted obstruction of justice and for convictions for obstruction of justice in 2008 and 2009, court records show.

This time, Grandt was charged with identity theft, a more serious felony carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Koehl said Grandt told police he obtained the man's identification information from a traffic ticket form he found at a bus stop in Chicago several years ago.