A South Florida school band director is facing federal charges in what prosecutors say was an identity theft and tax fraud scheme involving some stolen student records.
Court documents show 27-year-old Delvis Rogers pleaded not guilty last week to identity theft and other charges. The charges stem from Rogers' time as assistant band director at Plantation High School.
Rogers later was band director at a school in Opa-Locka.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for Rogers' apartment after noticing his address on more than 400 suspicious income tax returns claiming some $754,000 in refunds. The search turned up thousands of stolen identities, including more than a dozen former Broward County school students.
Broward School officials said Rogers was a substitute custodian from May 2008 to July 2009 at various locations, but they said they couldn't confirm he was an assistant band director at Plantation High.
"The District is committed to protecting the personal information of its students and employees, and has privacy policies and notices in place to protect personal information from unauthorized or unintended disclosure," school officials said in a statement. "The District takes every action necessary to comply with federal and state laws."
If convicted of identity theft, Rogers faces a required minimum prison sentence of two years.
