Identity Theft and Penalty

The Identity Theft and Penalty Act of 2004 was signed into law by George W. Bush with the expectation that the punishments handed out to convicted identity thieves would be harsher. However, in instances of illegal immigrants using stolen identity information, this may not be the case.

Illegal immigrants into the United States have been using falsified documents to get jobs, rent homes and procure loans for as long as illegal immigration has been a problem. In many cases, these documents were either completely fabricated or based on the personal information of deceased persons. With the increase in the growth of identity theft, forged documentation for illegal immigrants has taken a different turn. Much of the documentation is now created from information stolen from living people who have had their identities stolen by criminals.

One would think that the Identity Theft and Penalty Act of 2004 would be enough to curb this problem. However, this isn’t the case. In 2009, the Supreme Court overturned the identity theft conviction of an illegal alien. In it’s ruling, the court stated that the conviction of Ignacio Flores-Figueroa was not valid because he did not know that the information he had been given belonged to another person. The court’s explanation further stated that the Identity Theft and Penalty Act of 2004 was applicable only to persons who actually knew that they had stolen another person’s identity.

Obviously, it is the duty of the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. However, this ruling is a major setback for anyone who has had her or his identity stolen. The emotional toll that identity theft takes on an individual is beyond compensation. Requiring the prosecution to prove that the criminal involved in stealing someone’s identity knew that it was actually someone else's goes beyond the realm of common sense. It’s easy to see how the defense attorneys who represent identity thieves will exploit this stipulation. All they’ll have to do is tell the judge, "My client didn’t know that this identity belonged to someone else."