COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A former Columbus woman was sentenced in federal court on Tuesday for stealing the identity of a dead baby.

Ava Misseldine, 50, used the stolen identity to obtain a passport, a student pilot license, a job as a flight attendant and pandemic relief loans, a news release from Kenneth Parker, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, said.

She was sentenced to 6 years in prison for committing 16 counts of wire and passport fraud. As a part of her sentence, she will pay more than $1.5 million in restitution, forfeit her Utah home and profits from the recent sale of her Michigan home. 

Misseldine stole the identity of a baby who died in 1979 and is buried in a Columbus cemetery, the news release said. She used the stolen identity to apply for an Ohio ID, Social Security card and driver’s license in 2003, then a student pilot certificate and U.S. Passport in 2007.

Misseldine obtained approximately $1.5 million in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loans in 2020, court documents show. Her loan applications list her businesses as various bakeries and catering companies, including her former bakeries Sugar Inc. Cupcakes & Tea Salon in Dublin and Koko Tea Salon & Bakery in New Albany and Easton.

Misseldine used the pandemic relief loan money to purchase a home for $647,500 in Utah and a home for $327,500 in Michigan.

Over the years, Misseldine continued to obtain identity documents in both her real and fake names. An investigation was launched in 2021 when she tried to renew a fraudulent passport.

Misseldine was arrested in Utah in June 2022, and she pleaded guilty in October 2022.