Court records: Oregon official used dead boy's birth certificate

Federal authorities say an Oregon state employee stole the identity of a young murder victim.

The identity theft suspect is being called John Doe in the courts, but he was known to co-workers and business owners in Bend as Jason Evers, an Oregon Liquor Control Commission inspector.

In late April, Evers was arrested in Boise, Idaho, and charged with one count of providing false information on a passport application, which carries a possible 10-year prison sentence and 250,000 fine.

Federal authorities say Doe chose the identity of a three-year-old boy named Jason Evers, who was kidnapped from an Ohio park and killed in 1982.  A man named Adrian Williams was convicted of the crimes. 

"I'm outraged that somebody can do that, assume someone's identity," Bob Evers, Jason's father, told Cincinnati CBS affiliate WKRC.

Doe obtained Evers' birth certificate in 1996 when Doe was "likely around 17 years old," wrote Calvin Sherstand, Special Agent in the Diplomatic Security Service, in an affidavit obtained by KVAL News. 

"From my training and experience, I also know that imposters often assume false identites within an age range similar to their own," Sherstand wrote.

"He was able, from getting his birth certificate, to get a social security card. Then you get a driver's license," said Patrick Durkin, Special Agent in Charge of the US Department of State Diplomatic Security Service.  "So the birth certificate acts as a breeder document."

Durkin said investigators did not yet know why Doe allegedly took Evers' identity.

According to court douments, Doe used Jason Evers' birthdate and his parents names to apply for a passport in Portland in 2002.

That passport led to his arrest.

Federal investigators have been searching for imposters by cross-matching death records with passport records in an initiative called Operation "Death Match."

The man calling himself Jason Evers passed two criminal background checks, said OLCC spokeswoman Christie Scott, including one requiring his fingerprints.

"If it proves to be true that he indeed did what allegations are accusing him of, the agency is just as much a victim as anyone else," said Scott.

John Doe has waived extradition to Oregon.  Authorities are coordinating his return to the state.