Aggravated Identity Theft-Virginia

A Virginia National Guard soldier has admitted that he used his access to military personnel records to steal identities and commit bank fraud. ^[1]Federal officials say 28-year-old Specialist Jerry Crockett of Triangle pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria to bank fraud and aggravated identity-theft charges. ^[2] The former Marine faces up to 32 years in prison when he is sentenced May eleventh. ^[3]

Aggravated identity theft occurs when the crime of identity theft is coupled with another felony, here bank fraud. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A, if a person knowingly and unlawfully transfers, possesses, or uses a means of identification of another person in conjunction with the commission of a set list of felonies, that person will be punished as those felonies provide and that person will additionally be imprisoned for 2 years. If the felony happens to be a terrorism offense, that person will receive an additional 5 years of imprisonment. ^[4] Furthermore, that person will not be placed on probation, nor will the term of imprisonment run concurrently, unless the court has been given discretion to do by the Sentencing commission.^[5]

Prosecutors say he opened bank accounts with the stolen identities and cashed fraudulent checks worth about $120,000. ^[6]

Bank fraud carries a punishment of imprisonment for not more than 30 years, a fine of not more than $ 1,000,000, or both. ^[7]

Court documents show Crockett had access to the Guard's northern Virginia recruiting files, which contained names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers and other personal identifying information. ^[8]

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[1] Guardsman Enters Plea in Identity Theft, Richmond-Times Dispatch via ABC 7 News, February 22, 2007.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] 18 U.S.C. § 1028A (2005).
[5] Id.
[6] See Guardsman, supra note 1.
[7] 18 U.S.C. § 1344 (2005).
[8] Id.