Gouldsboro man accused of ID theft back in jail

ELLSWORTH – A Gouldsboro man wanted for allegedly passing himself off to police and jail officials as somebody else is back in Hancock County Jail.

Jeffrey S. Hobson, 43, failed to appear in Hancock County Superior Court last year on charges that he stole the identity of Jeffrey M. Wilson, 43, of Oregon. Hobson is accused of using Wilson’s driver’s license to identify himself to police in 1998 when he was arrested for drunken driving in Bangor and Hancock and in 2000 when police responded to a domestic disturbance complaint at

his Gouldsboro home.

Hobson, according to police, ended up being convicted and serving time in Penobscot and Hancock counties for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicants – all the while pretending to be Wilson. Both men were born on Sept. 28, 1960, according to court documents.

Hobson has been indicted in Hancock County on charges of aggravated forgery and failure to appear, according to court documents. Carletta Bassano, Hancock County’s deputy district attorney, said Tuesday that Hobson is facing similar charges in Bangor.

“Those are still pending,” she said of the Penobscot County charges.

Hobson was extradited to Maine earlier this month after he was arrested June 18 in Auburn, N.Y., according to Bassano. She said she did not know what Hobson was doing in New York at the time of his arrest.

The Gouldsboro man still was in custody at Hancock County Jail around noon Tuesday, according to a jail official. He is being held on bail of $5,000 cash or $10,000 surety, court documents indicated.

Attempts on Tuesday to contact Hobson’s attorney, Jeffrey Toothaker of Ellsworth, were unsuccessful.

Hobson’s alleged deception came to light in 2002 when Wilson, a senior master sergeant serving with the U.S. Navy is Yokota, Japan, received a letter from Oregon officials indicating he would not be able to renew his driver’s license in that state because of his OUI conviction in Maine. Wilson, who has said he has never been farther east in the United States than Indiana, contacted the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department to clear up the confusion.

Police subsequently found matching sets of fingerprints under two different names in inmate files at Hancock County Jail. One set was in a file with Jeffrey Hobson’s name and another in a file labeled with Wilson’s name, police have said.

Each set of fingerprints had only nine prints in them, according to police. Hobson is missing his right thumb, whereas fingerprints Wilson since has sent to police indicate he has all 10 of his fingers.

Hobson’s case is tentatively scheduled for trial in Hancock County Superior Court in the next couple of months. It is unclear how Hobson obtained a copy of Wilson’s Oregon driver’s license, officials have said.