Being displaced because of a hurricane is no laughing matter, let alone something to wrongly benefit from, yet apparently, one 25-year-old man thought it would be a grand idea to pose as a Hurricane Harvey victim and then enroll as a freshman at a Dallas high school.
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According to USA Today, Sidney Bouvier Gilstrap-Portley was arrested last weekend on charges of tampering with government records, but has since been released.
Gilstrap-Portley enrolled at Hillcrest High School under the name “Rashun Richardson” after claiming to have been displaced by Hurricane Harvey, which swept through the Houston area in August.
According to records, Gilstrap-Portley had first enrolled at Skyline High School in August and then re-enrolled at Hillcrest just two months later. It is not immediately clear why he transferred.
“This school year, our district welcomed evacuees displaced by Hurricane Harvey. During that time, an individual used that opportunity for personal gain,” district spokeswoman Robyn Harris told WFAA-TV, according to the website.
The Dallas Independent School District noted that when a student enrolls and says that he or she is homeless or an evacuee because of a natural disaster, federal law exempts the student from having to present certain required documents that he or she may not have access to.
According to the Dallas ISD, Gilstrap-Portley may have provided as little as immunization records and proof of a physical.
The fraud went so far that Gilstrap-Portley even played for Hillcrest’s basketball team.
His act was uncovered when a former basketball coach of his recently saw him playing for a high school team—and you know how it is: That math really didn’t add up.
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