Jody Harris jailed
CON artist Jody Harris, the "Catch Me If You Can thief", has been sentenced to a minimum three-and-a-half years' jail and been ordered to pay more than $175,000 in compensation.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
CON artist Jody Harris, the "Catch Me If You Can thief", has been sentenced to a minimum three-and-a-half years' jail and been ordered to pay more than $175,000 in compensation.
Harris, 28, of Tingalpa in Queensland, had pleaded guilty to 43 of 124 identity fraud charges.
While no formal plea was entered for the remaining charges, Harris admitted to the allegations, which were considered by Magistrate Allan Moore in determining her sentence.
Mr Moore sentenced Harris to a maximum four years in jail with a non-parole period of three and a half years.
She was also ordered to pay more than $175,000 in compensation to financial institutions caught up in her scams.
Harris stole more than $175,000 from at least 33 victims in NSW and is likely to face charges in other states.
Harris used stolen licences, bank cards and other personal information to assume the identity of her victims and drain their bank accounts.
She had a false Australian passport, a Victorian police uniform, and a NSW police access card when she was arrested in Sydney in July during an operation by police in NSW, Queensland and Victoria.
Harris earned the nickname of the "Catch Me If You Can thief" - after the film in which actor Leonardo diCaprio played a master of deception - for her habit of taunting detectives with false promises to surrender.
At various times while on the run, Harris fooled people into believing she was a doctor, businesswoman and the niece of slain Victorian underworld figure Mario Condello.
Harris looked relaxed as she sat in the prisoner holding dock while Mr Moore handed down her sentence in the Central Local Court.
She gave a victory sign to reporters as she left the dock, saying "peace".