Sheriff’s department assists in federal identity theft investigation

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department assisted the postal service, Secret Service agents and Louisville police in serving a search warrant.

Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Detective Chad Swank has been conducting an investigation into identity theft and deception involving a local victim, deputies said. Swank’s investigation has grown to include victims in other states, deputies said.

Swank has been working with post office investigators to track Patrick M. Smith, 36, Lexington, Kentucky and Shelby K. Morgan, 26, Louisville, Kentucky, who were found at a Louisville-area hotel on Friday, deputies said. Investigators served a search warrant on the couple’s hotel room.

When searching the hotel room, investigators found several forged driver’s licenses and identification cards from multiple states along with equipment to make the licenses, deputies said.

For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.