Will Smith Wannabe Cops Plea

Fri., Sep. 20, 2002 4:25 PM PDT by Josh Grossberg

Memo to you Will Smith wannabes: Try to pass yourself off as the man in black and you'll be getting jiggy wit' it in jail.

Such is the case with 41-year-old Carlos Lomax, who pleaded guilty on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh to one count of using "an unauthorized access device" for ringing up $33,000 in credit card bills in Smith's name.

Lomax now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to federal prosecutors, Lomax fit the classic profile of an identity thief. After unlawfully obtaining Smith's Social Security number, the impostor took out more than 14 credit lines with various department and specialty stores in Smith's given name (Willard Christopher Smith Jr.) and went on a Big Willie-style spending spree that added up to $32,897.34.

It was only after Smith's business manager caught a charge for $5,447 in goods on a Sears account in Steel Town that he called in the Ali star, who immediately went to work catching the con artist.

"This guy was doing this, he got caught, and the one smart thing he did was plead guilty," says Smith's publicist, Stan Rosenfield.

Rosenfield notes that Lomax never sent the bills directly to the actor, but was "just using his name," and it was unclear as to how Smith's business manager discovered the discrepancy.

An attorney for Lomax was unavailable for comment.

Apparently, the charlatan had a thing for living the high life vicariously. At the time of his arrest in the Smith case, Lomax was on probation for ripping off the identity of Atlanta Hawks basketball player Steve Smith, and amassing more than $81,000 in illegal credit card charges.

"It's certainly a matter of concern when these types of things happen," adds Rosenfield, who says that Smith was not directly involved in the prosecution of the case and did not testify.

While Smith's camp let the feds handle this case, the former Fresh Prince has had a rough summer.

Two months ago, he and his wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, went to court to file a restraining order against a disgruntled ex-employee whom the Hollywood power couple accused of stalking and harassing them after he was fired as the caretaker of their estate.