Former Harris County mail room clerk held on $30,000 bond after allegedly stealing man's identity

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A former Harris County mail room clerk accused of stealing the identity of a man, who court documents say is at least 65 years old, made her first court appearance on Thursday.

Sharika Prejean faces two charges, one of which has to do with stealing the man's identification and the second with credit card abuse.

The district attorney's office says Prejean also worked as a former USPS employee who allegedly stole hundreds of dollars. Authorities believe there could be more victims she may have taken advantage of during her power as a county clerk supervisor.

Dressed in an all-black tracksuit, Prejean made her first court appearance on Thursday at the Harris County courthouse.

"She's charged with two charges - fraudulent possession of identifying instruments belonging to an elderly and credit card abuse, which is a state jail felony," Hector Garza with the DA's office said.

Prior to working for the county, Prejean was a post office employee who allegedly stole money.

"In that particular case, investigators observed her to be taking the mail, and also allegations that she was using the mail for her own personal gains," Garza siad.

The DA's office says while she worked as a mail room clerk at the clerk's office, investigators found she had allegedly engaged in credit card abuse.

"It came to their attention that there were nine victims that had possibly been used in unauthorized manners," Garza said.

He urges anyone who feels they have been affected by these offenses to contact Precinct 1.

"Part of being a public servant is that the public gives you some form of trust in order to help them, whether it be helping or aiding your payments at the clerk's office, whether it be delivering mail. She was in a position of trust and had access to that information," Garza said.

The prosecutor told ABC13 that Prejean had initially made two $10,000 bonds to get released, but Prejean was taken into custody again on Thursday after a judge decided it was an insufficient amount of bond. The judge raised her bond to $30,000.

If found guilty of credit card abuse, Prejean could face up to two years in state jail. If she's found guilty of identity theft, which is a third-degree felony, she can face up to 10 years.