What Is the Jail Time for ID Theft?
Identity theft is a crime that has affected approximately 8.9 million as of 2006, according to the Better Business Bureau. Identity theft isn't just taking social security numbers or bank account numbers; medical information can be stolen as well. Identity theft is a crime, and the identity thief does face jail time.
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Identification
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Identity theft is any type of access to personal information that leads to fraud. Victims of identity theft are sometimes able to identify the person who stole their personal account information; nearly half of all theft victims--47 percent--have had their identity and account information accessed by someone they know, such as a family member, neighbor or an in-home employee.
Ninety percent of all data compromise, or identity theft, takes place offline.
Considerations
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The U.S. Congress has passed statutes regarding sentencing guidelines for identity theft. If a perpetrator of identity theft is charged with aggravated identity theft, an additional sentence can be added to the mandatory two-year sentence mandated by Congress. In the United States, the maximum penalty for identity theft is 15 years, if the value of the goods obtained is over $1,000 over a one-year period.
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Features
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The U.S. Sentencing Commission published a final report on identity theft, citing "unauthorized use or transfer of a means of identification with the intent to commit or aid or abet any federal violation or state felony." A violation can result in sentences of three, fifteen, twenty or twenty-five years, depending "on whether certain statutorily enumerated factors are present." These factors include, but are not limited to, the number of victims involved in the offense; the number of means of identification, identification documents, or false identification documents that were used in the offense; the value of the loss to the individual; and the extent to which sentencing enhancements ensure punishment, adequately achieving the purpose of sentencing or the extent to which federal sentencing guidelines for the offense have been constrained by the mandatory maximum penalties.
Effects
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Sentencing guidelines for identity theft include increased penalties for aggravated identity theft. Aggravated identity theft is defined as identity theft committed for the purpose of committing another state or federal offense. Thus, a charge of "aggravated identity theft" must include, not only the identity theft charge, but also a "predicate offense" such as mail fraud or terrorism. The suspect who is charged with aggravated identity theft can receive, in federal court, an enhanced mandatory sentence of two years for mail fraud or five years for possessing a false passport in connection with a terrorism case. Enhanced sentences are served consecutively with the sentence for identity theft. The law also forbids judges from allowing offenders to serve their time on probation.
Misconceptions
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According to The Identity Theft Resource Center, some law enforcement offices, credit agencies and creditors are not able or willing to extend assistance or consideration to identity theft victims, even when the victims are at risk of losing everything, or do lose everything, including their freedom. Some victims have been accused of crimes that have been committed by the person who stole their identities.
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