If you are accused of identity theft, it basically means prosecutors have reason to believe that you impersonated another person or stole their personal identifying information. Then, they may think you fraudulently used this to obtain a benefit or service in some capacity. The last thing you may want is for this accusation to result in a guilty verdict from the New Jersey criminal court. With that being said, please read on to discover the degrees of identity theft charges and how one of the experienced New Jersey & Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyers at The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C., can work to reduce or eliminate the conviction placed against you.
What are the degrees of identity theft charges in New Jersey?
Depending on the specific circumstances proven as true in your case, you may be charged with fourth-degree, third-degree, or second-degree identity theft. Specifically, your identity theft may be classified as a fourth-degree offense if you are proven to have obtained a benefit of $500 or less from your act(s). Then, a third-degree offense is for benefits of between $500 and $75,000, and a second-degree offense is for $75,000 or more.
And so, the varying degrees carry punishments of differing levels. That is, you may be sentenced to prison for up to 18 months, five years, or 10 years, for fourth-degree, third-degree, or second-degree identity theft, respectively. This may be in addition to a fine of up to $10,000, $15,000, or $150,000, respectively. Regardless of the degree, you may be subject to other potential consequences, such as restitution, a driver’s license suspension, and even a separate civil claim lawsuit filed by the victim.
What happens if identity theft involves the Internet or technology?
You must understand that if your criminal acts of identity theft involved the use of the Internet or technology, your case proceedings may be on a grander scale than you initially anticipated. For example, a New Jersey criminal court may take on your case if you are accused of impersonating someone over email, hacking into someone’s online financial accounts, or conducting a phishing scam to obtain someone’s personal identifying information. However, the state court may pass your case on to the federal court if your alleged crime involves something more serious.
That is, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other federal agencies typically investigate cybercrimes, as they are likely to involve the crossing of state or national borders. More likely than not, this cyber activity may pose a serious threat to national security. But also, they deal with cases entailing large-scale data breaches that target important corporations (i.e., credit card networks, computer networks, etc). And lastly, cases that hurt a significant number of victims (i.e., many stole Social Security numbers).
When it comes to your criminal defense, you should not settle for anything less than spectacular legal representation. So please hire us to help with your criminal trial proceedings. One of the experienced New Jersey & Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyers at The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C., looks forward to working with you.
