A former Columbus, Ohio-area bakery owner was sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday for using the identity of a dead baby to commit 16 counts of wire and passport fraud.

The infant, Brie Bourgeois, died in 1979 and is buried in a cemetery in Columbus. Ava Misseldine, 50, first used the baby’s identity in 2003 to apply for an Ohio state ID and later a Social Security card and driver’s license, according to the Justice Department.

In 2007, in order to gain employment as a flight attendant for Columbus-based private aviation company JetSelect, Misseldine once again played herself off as Bourgeois to obtain a student pilot certificate and a U.S. passport.

Over the succeeding years, Misseldine continued to get ID documentation using Bourgeois’ name. In 2020, she submitted forged documents using her real name and her stolen identity to apply for COVID-connected Paycheck Protection Program loans for her bakeries and other businesses, some of which were not registered with the Ohio secretary of state.

Misseldine then used the government money to buy a house in Utah for $647,500 and a second house in Michigan for $327,500. As part of her move to Utah, she obtained state driver’s licenses in both names.

An attempt to renew her passport in 2021 set off an investigation that uncovered her nearly two decades of identity deception. She was arrested in Utah in June 2022 and pleaded guilty four months later.

In addition to her six years in prison, Misseldine is being fined $1.5 million in restitution, plus must forfeit her Utah home and surrender proceeds from the sale of her Michigan residence.

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• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.