Identity theft is such as personal violation, but it becomes even more personal when someone steals from your house and your mailbox to get your information. A report by Lake Elsinore-Wilodmar Patch details how a 32-year-old California woman was caught stealing the identities of as many as 97 different victims by taking mail, packages and other personal items from her victims’ homes. (Some people wish to “reinvent” themselves during different stages of their lives, but 97 times seems a little excessive.)
The thief used the contents of the stolen items to steal the owners’ identities and make fraudulent charges to their credit cards. Less than two months after her crime spree began, she was picked up by authorities as she was taking stolen packages from a postal outlet. At the time, she had already been convicted of a felony related to drug possession, along with a series of misdemeanor convictions for shoplifting and being under the influence of a controlled substance.
Despite the suspicion that she was responsible for victimizing almost 100 people, the California culprit was only charged with 20 counts of identity theft against nine victims, and she faced the possibility of a two-year prison sentence. Ultimately, she took a plea deal for one count of identity theft and was sentenced to sixteen months of mandatory supervision, a higher level of probation assigned to certain convicts, who are spared from prison because of their non-violent criminal status (an option under the state’s Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011.)
Identity theft may be considered a non-violent crime, but cleaning up the mess created by having your identity stolen is complicated, stressful and sometimes results in long-term financial complications. Despite the fact that this scammer avoided the slammer this time, she’ll have to learn to live with just one identity from now on.
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