Harrisburg — Damien Hartsfield, a Philadelphia resident, has been sentenced to 6 to 12 years in prison for forging documents to evade child support payments, as announced by Attorney General Michelle Henry.
Hartsfield, 37, was convicted in January on multiple felony charges, including forgery, theft by deception, identity theft, conspiracy, and perjury, as well as a misdemeanor count of false swearing. On Tuesday, he received a sentence of 6 to 12 years in prison, followed by 3 years of probation. Additionally, he must pay $5,400 in restitution to the child’s mother.
The case arose when Hartsfield, who owed over $17,000 in child support, orchestrated a scheme to forge documents suggesting that the mother no longer required child support payments. This elaborate fraud involved identity theft and deception of the family court.
“The defendant concocted an elaborate scheme that involved identity theft to deceive the family court and avoid legal obligations to his child,” said Attorney General Henry. “This trial conviction and sentence hold the defendant accountable and put the child support order, and money owed, back into effect.”
Hartsfield’s scheme unraveled when he received a $10,000 award from an unrelated lawsuit but was unable to collect it due to his outstanding child support balance. To circumvent this, he had someone impersonate the mother using a duplicate driver’s license and submit a notarized letter falsely stating that the mother no longer wanted child support. He further lied under oath to a family court judge to validate the false claim.
After fraudulently obtaining the $10,000 award, Hartsfield vacationed in Cancun. The mother eventually discovered the fraud and alerted law enforcement, leading to Hartsfield’s prosecution and conviction. Senior Deputy Attorney General Thomas Ost-Prisco successfully prosecuted the case.
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