We’ve all heard – or experienced – the horror stories of identity thieves who use stolen identities to open credit card accounts or buy cars, boats and houses. But, it could be worse. Take Malcolm Byrd’s story for instance: it’s the stuff Coen brothers’ movies are made of.

It starts with a guy in Wisconsin, Malcolm Byrd, reading a story in the local newspaper that details his arrest of the previous night. What the …? He goes to the police department. They explain that some guy got arrested for coke possession with intent to sell and gave his name as Malcolm Byrd.  By the time the “real” Malcolm Byrd read about the arrest, the impostor had bonded out of jail and was released.

Next, Malcolm goes to the paper. Apologies are made. A retraction is run. It was a strange, strange day for our hero, but it’s all been cleared up, right? Of course not. If it were all cleared up, it wouldn’t be worthy of the Coen brothers.It’s a wild story, right? The thing is, one in every six identity theft victims ends up with a criminal record, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. Of course, Malcolm Byrd’s story is worse than most.

Next scene: Four months have gone by. The same guy is sitting at home with his two little kids on a Saturday night. There’s a knock at the door. The law is there, and they have a warrant for his arrest. Our hero is busted for coke possession with intent to sell. Off he goes to jail.

What follows is years of absolute hell. Byrd gets pulled over for speeding, and ends up face down on the pavement, with his hands cuffed behind his back. That’s right, it’s those pesky coke charges again.

Things get worse. He loses his job when his boss finds out he lied about his criminal history. He’s denied unemployment benefits because of his criminal history. He can’t get another job because of his criminal history. His driver’s license is suspended because someone else using his name – apparently someone else who’s a really bad driver – has racked up a bunch of unpaid traffic tickets.

His niece borrows his car, and gets pulled over. The police demand that she tell them her uncle’s whereabouts. He gets arrested again. The charges this time: failure to appear in court on his coke charges. This time, the police are about to call Child Protective Services to come get his kids, but his mother-in-law arrives, and the kids are allowed to stay. Byrd gets hauled off to jail again.

Before it’s over, Byrd gets arrested three more times. But how can he ever really know that it’s over? The coke dealer that’s been using his name has never been arrested.