Santa Rosa Man Arrested for Using Dead Man's Name

Sonoma County Sheriff's detectives on Monday arrested Michael Edward Green Jr. of Santa Rosa for stealing a deceased man's identity and using it to cash fraudulent checks.

Green is charged with identification theft, commercial burglary and theft by use of an access card. 

A resident of Sonoma Valley reported on Monday that she had been a victim of mail theft, according to Sgt. Michael Raasch. The woman reported two boxes of blank checks she had ordered from her bank were stolen out of her mailbox. She discovered one check had been fraudulently written payable to David Tentis for nearly $1,000.

Detectives discovered that David Tentis had been deceased since June 2012, Raasch reported. Through bank records, detectives learned that someone had opened up a bank account at Bank of America on Dec. 2, 2012 in the name of David Tentis. The stolen / fraudulent check was deposited into Tentis' account. Detectives were able to obtain surveillance video of a person withdrawing money out of Tentis account on three separate occasions. Another detective recognized the suspect and he was positively identified as Michael Edward Green Jr, 37, a resident of Santa Rosa.

Green was already wanted by authorities; he had four outstanding arrest warrants pertaining to not showing up in court, Sgt. Raasch stated. He is facing criminal charges for vehicle theft, drug sales, weapon charges and violation of probation. Green is on probation for a previous DUI conviction, Raasch reported.

During the investigation, detectives learned that Green was obtaining credit cards in Tentis' name and using them at various locations in Sonoma County. Green had also rented hotel rooms under the name of Tentis.

Green also is a suspect in a commercial burglary case being investigated by Santa Rosa police. He is accused of stealing items from hotel rooms, Sgt. Raasch reported.

On Monday, a Rohnert Park public safety officer contacted Green and Kailyne Marbry in the parking lot of the Budget Inn motel. Green falsely identified himself as David Tentis. The officer ran the name and discovered that Tentis was deceased. Green was arrested for his outstanding arrest warrants, along with falsely identifying himself to police. Marbry, 22, of Santa Rosa, was arrested after officers found a large amount of methamphetamine on her.

Green was booked into the county jail for his four outstanding arrest warrants, as well as Commercial Burglary, ID Theft, Theft by Use of an Access Card and Falsely Identifying himself to Police. Green's bail was set at $181,000.

Marbry was booked into jail for Possession/Sales of Methamphetamine. Marbry's bail was set at $40,000.

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