Senior-level White House cabinet member's Social Security number fraudulently used

Teenager Austin Townsend of Douglas County, Georgia, applied for a credit card using an unknown Social Security number (SSN) he found on the internet, WSBTV-TV reports. Unbeknownst to Townsend, that number belonged to a senior-level White House cabinet member. The teen was charged with identity theft, but his lawyer, Nicole Jones, is claiming ignorance. "He didn't understand," Jones told the news source. "He didn't even know whose Social Security number it really was." After a credit agency noticed the SSN on Townsend's card application didn't match his name, they alerted the Secret Service. Agents would later turn the case over to the Douglas Police Department after it was determined that Townsend wasn't a terrorist threat. The Secret Service has refused to release the name of the cabinet official, and according to WSB Radio, not even Douglas County authorities know who the victim of this fraudulent identity verification was. Townsend is being faced with felony charges and is currently out of jail on bond.