But after selling his driver's license earlier this year for $450, the 26-year-old New Jersey man almost found himself on the hook for a large prostitution bust in Linthicum.
Perkins later learned that the man he sold his license to gave it to police Feb. 24 when he was arrested. "I had no idea what he was involved in," Perkins said last week from his home in Jersey City.
"That was not me. I am not Mr. Pimp," said Perkins, an on-again, off-again college student who professes deep love for the music of Christina Aguilera and the writings of Alexander Hamilton.
County police and prosecutors confirmed last week that they are working with authorities in New Jersey to sort out who is who, but an attorney representing the man currently in jail acknowledged Thursday that her client is not Perkins. She identified him as Dannan Salters, also of Jersey City.
"I was as surprised as anybody he had another identity," defense attorney Kathleen Sheehy said.
Reached Thursday at the Jennifer Road Detention Center, the man now known as Salters declined to comment on his identity.
The mix-up started with a debt, according to Perkins.
After a couple of marijuana-related arrests late last year in New Jersey, Perkins needed $450 to pay off some fines. Without the money, he would have been looking at jail time, Perkins said.
Enter Salters.
According to Perkins, Salters - who he knew only as "Flip" - agreed to pay off the fines and pay Perkins' monthly cellphone bill in exchange for two favors: Perkins would have to hand over his driver's license and register Salter's car in his name.
"I really don't know why he wanted me to do that. I never asked," said Perkins, explaining he was just interested in the money. "I should have asked. ? I made a bad choice."
Perkins - who filed a police report Jan. 6 with the Jersey City Police Department indicating that his wallet had been stolen - said the agreement seemed to work for about a month. As promised, Salters paid his cellphone bill in February.
Then Perkins lost track of Salters and received a notice from a bank indicating he had been turned down for a home loan. He had never heard of the bank or applied for the loan, he said.
Perkins wasn't initially concerned. That changed when he received paperwork last month indicating he had been arrested in Anne Arundel County on prostitution charges.
"I've never been to Maryland and I definitely haven't been arrested in Maryland," said Perkins, explaining that he contacted county police and prosecutors in an effort to clear his name.
According to police, a man identifying himself as Perkins was arrested Feb. 24 after a young woman sent a text message to her mother saying she was being held against her will at a Linthicum hotel.
The man - now believed to be Salters - was charged with possession of marijuana, three counts of prostitution, three counts of profiting from prostitution and nine counts of human trafficking.
A trial is scheduled July 27.
Solid alias
While both Salters and the real Perkins have criminal records in New Jersey, a fingerprint check last February did not immediately reveal any deception.
Lt. Frank Tewey, a spokesman for the county Police Department, explained Friday that the county does not have electronic access to the fingerprint records of New Jersey or other states.
When a person is arrested in Anne Arundel County, his or her fingerprints are initially compared only against a Maryland database, he said. If a person is not in that database, police turn to a nationwide database maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Tewey said police contact the FBI in two ways - with rush orders and general requests.
Officers seek immediate responses whenever a person does not have a driver's license or other form of identification. Tewey said such a request can take up to 24 hours.
If police think they know a suspect's identity, the county transmits the data in a less-rushed fashion.
"I don't know the exact process, but it is not an overnight or 10-minute check," Tewey said. "Sometime down the road, they get back to us."
Tewey said detectives did not believe a rush order was required in this case. He noted that the suspect had Edward Perkins' driver's license and was driving a car registered to Edward Perkins.
"This alias was pretty well established," he said.
Tewey did not know when - or even if - the FBI contacted the department about the fingerprints from this case.
Slow going
Perkins lamented last week the slow pace at which prosecutors were working to clear his name.
"It's taking forever for them to get this done," he said.
Kristin Fleckenstein, a spokesman for the State's Attorney Office, urged patience. She said it will take time for investigators to confirm Perkins' story, especially since he is in Jersey City.
"We can't move forward on a phone call," she said. "We need to make sure everything has been looked into and verified before we drop any charges. ? If we don't (fully investigate), we could jeopardize our case."
Source: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2011/06_20-09/TOP
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