Woman Gets Prison Over Teacher ID Thefts & Midday Roundup

By KERA News & Wire Services

Dallas, TX –

A Bedford woman apologized as she was sentenced to 34 years in prison in an identity theft scam targeting educators in Irving.

Sharon Denise Seeley pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years for fraudulent use or possession of identifying information. She was sentenced to two years on each of two counts of credit card abuse.

The 40-year-old woman will serve the sentences concurrently.

About a dozen victims were in court Thursday. Several testified about how ID theft had destroyed their credit ratings and left their lives in turmoil.

Thieves were blamed for getting the data of more than 3,000 Irving teachers and other district employees from an old benefits report. Seeley, who was arrested in 2009 at a mall, says the information she used came from a binder thrown in a trash bin.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate turns up attack

A hair-care magnate running for the Texas Democratic gubernatorial nomination says ads from his opponent take a backhanded swipe at his ethnic roots.

Farouk Shami, a Houston businessman who was born a Palestinian outside Jerusalem, says former Houston Mayor Bill White makes a "racist" remark by talking about being born in San Antonio.

Shami made the comment at an event in McAllen Thursday night. Shami was making his second stop in the Rio Grande Valley following an earlier event in Brownsville. A spokeswoman for the White campaign called Shami's comment "ridiculous."

Police shoot, kill armed man at Dallas gas station

Dallas police shot and killed an armed man to end a standoff at a gas station.

Police spokesman Andy Harvey says the gunman was acting in a threatening manner Friday before being fatally shot by an officer. Harvey says police are investigating whether the gunman was a disgruntled employee of the station.

No officers were injured in the standoff that ended early Friday afternoon.

The name of the man who died was not immediately released by police.