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A Newport man lived under a stolen identity for decades after deserting the Navy. A COVID shot revealed his true identity

The real victim was notified of a COVID vaccine he had never actually received. Authorities discovered a man had been living under the victim's identity for decades.

NEWPORT, Tenn. — A 65-year-old East Tennessee man will spend two years in prison after he was caught living under a stolen identity for decades after deserting the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee said. 

The story begins in 1976. Court documents showed Jerry Blankenship enlisted in the U.S. Navy that year, and in the following year, he deserted after completing basic training to avoid future military service.

Prosecutors said Blankenship then stole the name and identity of another person and established a new life in Newport, Tennessee.

Over the course of the next few decades, court documents showed Blankenship had "been dishonest about his name with almost everyone, including his girlfriend of thirty years" and the mother of his three children.

The court said Blankenship obtained three fraudulent driver's licenses under the victim's name since 2005, saying he also used the victim's name in a business that he and his girlfriend ran in Newport.

It wasn't until Blankenship received a COVID-19 vaccine that his true identity would be revealed. The court said he received his vaccine at a Newport pharmacy, and the real victim was notified of a vaccination he never received. Store surveillance video revealed Blankenship was the person who obtained that vaccine, the court said.

The court said Blankenship pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with one count of fraud involving a Social Security number, and one count of aggravated identity theft. After serving his prison sentence, the court said he will be placed on three years of supervised release.

The court said it anticipates Blankenship will also face a military tribunal for his desertion.

The Better Business Bureau in Knoxville said this type of long-term-use identity theft doesn't happen very often. 

"That's hard to believe, it really is. That's a long time," said Tony Binkley, the president of the BBB. "If somebody's going to use it for ill will, there's organized crime that does that. I mean, they're just trying to get your identity to get to your money. In this case, it sounds like they used it for a different reason."

Binkley said it goes to show anyone can be a victim of identity theft and said people should stay vigilant. He said they should review credit reports when possible, looking for strange addresses or anything else they don't recognize.

"That way if you see anything unusual you can contact that credit bureau, let them know and they can look into it," he said.

Doing this, he said, could keep identity theft from going under the radar.

Reporters talked to the victim's family Tuesday. They did not want to go on camera but said they were shocked someone got away with identity theft for so long.

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