Federal Vs. State Punishments There are two levels of punishment for identity theft: the state level and the federal level. The federal law relating to identity theft penalties was signed into action by President Bush in 2004, and it mandates federal prison time for anyone convicted of the crime. It also increases the maximum jail sentence from three years to five years, and increases penalties for phishing schemes, among other changes. Any sensible criminal will consider these types of federal identity theft penalties a huge deterrent, but if that’s not enough, punishment can take place at the state level, too, depending on the nature and severity of the crime. Each state differs in how they handle an identity theft conviction, but at the very least, the criminal will be given a misdemeanor and forced to pay back any loss suffered by the victim, whether financial or in compensation of time, labor, etc. As the severity of the crime increases, so too do the state identity theft penalties, ranging from prison terms up to ten years to fines numbering in the thousands of dollars. Whether an identity theft is handled at the state or federal level will depend on the nature of the theft that took place; anything involving tax fraud, for example, will likely be handled at a federal level, while smaller crimes such as check fraud or a stolen credit card may be handled by the jurisdiction of the state where the crime took place. Victims of identity theft should be aware of the laws in their area so that they know what to expect when their case moves towards conviction; it is helpful to know what statutes are being used to measure the crime when anticipating what the outcome might be for you as the victim.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 23:01:10 +0000
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