Convicted felon spent $3.2 million in 3 months

JEFFERSON COUNTY - Investigators are still shaking their heads over how 39-year old James Hartman spent $ 3.2 million on vehicles, cars and land in three months.

Hartman did it by using a photocopy of someone else's driver's license and a matching Social Security number, according to police.

In June of 2006, James Hartman bought five vehicles from Christopher's Dodge World.

On June 5, he bought a pickup truck for $48,000.

On June 10, he bought another pickup truck for $49,000.

On June 14, Hartman bought two Dodge Durangos for $77,000.

And on June 24, he bought a Dodge Viper for $94,000.

In his May, June and July 2006 spending spree, Hartman signed agreements to buy five vehicles, two ATVs, a toyhauler, two houses and mountain property, all totalling $3.2 million.

"Did I go overboard in buying a few vehicles. Probably did," Hartman told 9Wants to Know from the Jefferson County Jail. "But it wasn't identity theft. My brother approved of all of it. I didn't have the credit. He did. So we used his driver's license and Social Security number to make the purchases."

James' brother, Ed says he didn't know about any of the purchases until he got a call from Jessicca McKeown of Xtreme Performance Center in Longmont.

Hartman had tried to buy $20,000 worth of ATVs there and McKeown told him a "copy" of the driver's license wouldn't do. She wanted the original. When James didn't produce it, McKeown made the call from the real address and real name on the photo-copied driver's license and reported her suspicions to the Weld County Sheriff's Department.

Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey says it's a bad idea for business people to accept a photocopy of a driver's license.

"If part of their credit application process is to verify identity through a driver's license and they have an out-of-state photocopy of a driver's license, that's probably not the wisest thing to do and they're not doing their due diligence," said Storey.

In other words, the business has an obligation to make sure the driver's license is valid, Storey says.

9NEWS asked Hartman from his jail cell, "Are you a con man?"

"Ma'am, if I was a con man, I'd tell you no," he answered. "You'd still doubt me, so you're going to have to judge that for yourself."

Hartman reiterated he did not commit identity theft. He had his brother's permission, he insists.

However, Ed calls his brother a "thief, crook and slime ball."

Jefferson County District Court Judge Lily Oeffler accepted Hartman's guilty plea in April.

She sentenced him to eight years in prison saying, "You're still not taking responsibility for what happened. You're still telling us it's everyone's fault but your own."

Hartman has similar charges pending in Weld and Arapahoe Counties.

All the vehicles Hartman purchased were recovered. All-Pro Recovery says Hartman was very clever about hiding them. They found the five vehicles at three different addresses and got them back in 12 hours.