Senator Feinstein, Attorney General Ashcroft Unveil New Identity Theft Legislation

Senator Feinstein, Attorney General Ashcroft
Unveil New Identity Theft Legislation
May 2, 2002

Washington, DC - At a news conference today to announce a crackdown on perpetrators of identity fraud, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Attorney General John Ashcroft unveiled new legislation that would help law enforcement capture and prosecute serious identity thieves.

As part of a nationwide sweep, the Department of Justice announced that 73 criminal prosecutions were brought against 134 individuals in 24 districts. The types of criminal violations that underlie the identity thefts run the gamut from traditional white collar crime to murder, and the indictments in these cases charge that the stolen identities have been used to purchase cars, vacations, and even houses.

"Identity theft is a crime on the rise in America - and it is a crime with severe consequences not only for the individual victims of the identity theft, but for every consumer and every financial institution as well," Senator Feinstein said. "Fraud losses at financial institutions are running well over one billion dollars annually. And for individuals, the losses can be staggering. The average loss from one identity theft is now about $18,000."

"This new legislation will enhance the penalties for any individual who steals an identity and uses that false identity to commit any one of a number of serious federal offenses, including immigration offenses, firearms offenses, false citizenship crimes, and others. And for terrorism offenses, the penalties are increased even further."

Increase penalties by two years for anyone who commits "aggravated identity theft" in order to perpetrate a serious federal predicate offense (listed in the bill and including immigration violations, false citizenship crimes, firearms offenses, and other serious crimes).
Increase penalties by five years for anyone who commits identity theft for the purpose of committing a terrorist act.

The additional years would run consecutively with the sentence for the underlying crime, but a judge could combine terms of additional identity thefts committed to perpetrate the same underlying offense.

Make it easier for prosecutors to prove identity theft by stating that as long as criminal intent is proved for the underlying offense, no further proof of intent is required.
Add the word "possesses" to current law so that prosecutors can go after ID thieves who possess false identity documents with the intent to commit a crime - current law only punishes the transfer or sale of those documents.
Increase the maximum term of imprisonment for ordinary identity theft and for possession of false identification documents from three to five years. Impose a higher maximum penalty for identity theft used to facilitate acts of domestic terrorism (current law imposes this same penalty for an act of international terrorism, but not domestic terrorism).

"Identity theft comes in many forms and can be perpetrated in many ways. That is why I have worked for many years with Senator Jon Kyl and others to put some safeguards into the law that might better prevent the fraud from occurring in the first place, and to crack down on identity thieves," Senator Feinstein said. "I look forward to working with the Justice Department and my Senate colleagues to see this bill passed and signed into law as soon as possible."

Senator Feinstein has long been interested in combating identity theft. In the 107^th Congress, she introduced legislation that would prohibit anyone from selling or displaying a Social Security number to the general public without the Social Security number holder's consent. Separate legislation would give identity theft victims tools to restore their identity.