Mainer charged for faking identity Forgery of Oregonian’s driver’s license alleged

ELLSWORTH – A Gouldsboro man apparently went all the way through the local court system on a drunken driving arrest and conviction while using another man’s identity, authorities said Tuesday.

Only when an Oregon man was refused a driver’s license renewal because of his supposed drunken driving conviction in Maine did the scheme come to light.

Accused in the case is Jeffrey Hobson, 42, of Gouldsboro.

He pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Hancock County Superior Court to multiple charges of aggravated forgery.

He is accused of passing himself off as Jeffrey Wilson, 42, an enlisted man in the U.S. Air Force who has never been stationed in Maine, according to Superior Court documents.

Besides having the same first name, Hobson and Wilson also were also born on the same day, Sept. 28, 1960, the documents indicate.

On Christmas Eve 1998, Hobson was arrested in Hancock on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants, according to an affidavit signed by Hancock County Sheriff’s Detective Alan Brown.

At the time of the arrest, Hobson allegedly gave police an Oregon driver’s license identifying him as Jeffrey Wilson, Brown said in the affidavit.

Five months later, police and court officials still believed Hobson was Wilson when he was found guilty of the OUI charge in May 1999, according to court documents.

It wasn’t until last summer, however, that the alleged forgery was detected.

The real Wilson called Detective Brown in July 2002 and told him he had been notified that his Oregon license would not be renewed because of a Maine OUI conviction. Wilson told Brown he had been stationed at Hill Air Force Base in Utah in 1998 and has never been stationed in Maine, court documents indicate.

So Brown went to the Hancock County Jail to inspect inmate records and discovered that the fingerprints in a file labeled with Wilson’s name allegedly matched those in a file labeled with Hobson’s name.

A subsequent interview with one of Hobson’s relatives indicated Hobson had used Wilson’s name as an alias before, according to the affidavit. The relative also told police Hobson was missing his right thumb – a factor consistent with the fingerprints on file at the jail, the affidavit indicates.

A set of Wilson’s fingerprints that Wilson later sent Brown did not match those on file at the jail, according to court documents.

Attempts Tuesday to contact Detective Brown for comment were unsuccessful. Hobson’s attorney, Jeffrey Toothaker of Ellsworth, did not return a message left at his office Tuesday afternoon.

Assistant District Attorney Mary Kellett said Tuesday that Hobson allegedly has been alternating use of his own identity with that of Wilson as he has faced various charges in Hancock County over the past few years. She said it is not known how Hobson might have obtained Wilson’s driver’s license.

Hobson’s bail was set at $10,000 surety or $1,000 cash. Hobson’s bail conditions require him to check in daily at the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department and to observe a curfew between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.