MAN SENTENCED FOR IMPERSONATING OFFICER

JACKSON, Mo.-- A 34-year-old Jackson man might consider doing impressions of people who don't work for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Troy D. Hamilton pleaded guilty Thursday to the misdemeanor crime of impersonating a highway patrolman, said Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau County prosecutor.

Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp sentenced Hamilton to two days in jail and a $500 fine for his impersonation.

Hamilton, a former sheriff's deputy, had used the identity of patrol Cpl. Blaine Adams while working for AAA Check Advance Co. of Cape Girardeau, Swingle said.

As a collections officer with the loan company, Hamilton had attempted to contact Jeffery K. Hency of Cape Girardeau in June using Adams' identity to collect a debt. He had told Hency's mother that he would take her son into custody unless arrangements to pay off the debt were made, Swingle said.

When Hency's mother reached the real Blaine Adams at the Poplar Bluff, Mo., Highway Patrol station, both were confused, Adams said.

"I asked her what she needed, and she said, I don't know. You called me,'" Adams said.

Adams thought the call was a mistake. But after checking with a dispatcher, he was told that the woman had specifically asked for him. Curious, Adams called her back.

The woman asked him if he worked for AAA Check Advance Co. and then explained that a message from a person saying he was Adams with the Highway Patrol had been left on her answering machine.

Adams then called back to listen to the message left under his name. With assistance from another officer, he had the message recorded so he could listen to it further.

While listening to the tape together, the other officer noted that the voice was similar to Hamilton's, and Adams agreed, he said.

Adams had gone to school with Hamilton, and more recently attend the same sports club to work out, the trooper said. It made sense that Hamilton would impersonate him, Adams said.

The class A misdemeanor carries a range of punishment of one day to one year in jail and a fine of up to $500. In imposing his sentence, Kamp was following the recommendation of the prosecutor, Swingle said.

Investigations have shown that Hamilton had used Adams' identity in calls made to Ballwin, Mo., Benton, Mo., and in Cape Girardeau.

"It's hard to know how many people he has done this with," Adams said.