Fraudster bakery owner is sentenced to six years in prison for stealing the identity of a dead baby to obtain job, pilot's license, passport and more than $1.5million in COVID relief funds

An Ohio bakery owner has been sentenced to six years in prison for stealing the identity of a dead baby to obtain a job, a pilot's license, a passport and more than $1.5million in pandemic relief funds which she used to buy two homes.

Ava Misseldine, 50, was found guilty of stealing the identity of Brie Bourgeois, a baby who passed away in 1979 and who was buried in Columbus.

Misseldine was sentenced in the city's District Court on Tuesday, court documents show, more than 10 months after pleading guilty to 16 counts of fraud.

The 50-year-old first used the deceased baby's identity to obtain an Ohio ID and social security card in 2003, three years after she was released from prison for theft, forgery and an escape attempt.

Years later, she would use the fake identity as well as her real name to claim financial relief for her bakery - money she put towards a $327,500 home in Michigan and $647,500 home in Utah, according to the Justice Department. 

Misseldine was sentenced in the city's District Court on Tuesday, court documents show 

Ava Misseldine, 50, was found guilty of stealing the identity of Brie Bourgeois, a baby who passed away in 1979 and who was buried in Columbus

She was charged with using the dead child's name - Brie Bourgeois - to get a job, a pilot's license, a passport, college admission and $1.5million in COVID-19 bailout cash

The fraudster was arrested in Utah in June 2022 after authorities became suspicious of her when she tried to renew her passport in 2021, The New York Times reports.

She will now have to forfeit her Utah home and profits on the Michigan house, which she recently sold.

Misseldine will also have to pay the entire $1.5 million in restitution following her guilty plea.

'Ava was very remorseful over her past criminal behavior, and, at sentencing she read a very emotional statement accepting responsibility for her actions,' Alan Pfeuffer, a lawyer representing her said in a statement.

Misseldine opened Koko Tea Salon & Bakery in 2012, according to her LinkedIn, profile.

Misseldine (pictured left) at one of the several baking establishments she ran in the Columbus area

The Bourgeois family was apparently unaware of the activities until they were revealed recently. 

Paula Bourgeois, whose husband and Brie's father Jacques died in 2003, said last year she had no idea who Misseldine was. 

'Brie died so young, she had no Social Security number,' Bourgeois said, expressing worry that she could somehow be held liable for any financial crimes committed in her child's name. 

'She was only 4 1/2 months old when she passed away… I'm really flabbergasted,' she told The Daily Beast.