A Covington woman claiming to be a sovereign citizen disappeared from court late Monday afternoon in the short time it took a jury to convict her of four identity fraud charges, officials said.
A bench warrant was issued for Krystal Chanta Lamb, 26, who was absent when the jury’s verdict was announced late Monday.
Lamb was found guilty of forgery in the first degree, financial identity fraud, criminal attempt to commit theft by deception and possession of a false identification document.
Lamb represented herself in the case, though she declined to testify on her own behalf and declined to provide a closing argument to the jury. Lamb did recall several of the state’s witnesses to ask them questions, but was unable to call other state’s witnesses because they were not subpoenaed to testify.
The jury deliberated for about five minutes before returning a verdict of guilty on all four counts, according to Assistant District Attorney Ben Thomsen.
Superior Court Judge Fletcher Sams postponed sentencing until Lamb could be apprehended.
Lamb was accused of trying to fraudulently purchase three laptop computers, a television and a TV mounting bracket at the H.H. Gregg store at the Fayette Pavilion July 21, 2012. Prosecutors said Lamb tried to use a fake account that was set up at the company’s Stonecrest Mall store to purchase the items using a fake name that was backed up by a phony driver’s license that claimed to have been issued by the state of Nevada.
Lamb’s last known address on court records was on Fairway Trail in Covington, though she lived in Atlanta at the time of her initial arrest.
