May 29, 2002 2 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – A man who stole the identities of some of the nation’s top executives to buy $730,000 in diamonds and Rolex watches was sentenced to eight years in prison Tuesday. Among those harmed were the chairman of Lehman Brothers Holdings and executives from Coca-Cola Enterprises and Hilton Hotels. The estate of the deceased former chairman of Wendy’s International was also victimized.

“I am ashamed of myself,” James Jackson, 41, of Memphis, Tenn., told U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts.

Jackson was ordered to pay $376,704 in restitution for crimes the judge called “everyone’s worst nightmare when it comes to fears of privacy, identity theft and credit card liability.”

Prosecutors said Jackson identified prominent business executives, sometimes by reading “Who’s Who in America.”

He called banks and credit card companies, impersonated victims and persuaded the companies to change billing addresses on the accounts to hotels in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. He used the financial details to buy jewelry from New York and other cities.

FBI agents arrested Jackson in February 2000 as he tried to collect a package addressed to one of his victims at a hotel near Memphis.

Jackson’s lawyer, Robert Dunn, said he suspected his client might have been driven by his ego to get caught because “what’s the fun of it if nobody knows?”

“It was almost as if he was pushing the envelope, looking to get caught,” Dunn said outside court Tuesday.