justice
Last week, I got a letter from the US Parole Office in Minnesota, which kind of freaked me out when I saw the envelope. It said someone had been convicted of wire fraud and identity theft and I'd been identified as a potential victim of the crime. At first I thought it must have been a mistake, but then I remembered that a year ago, somebody used my credit card number to buy two $199 Panera gift cards.
I googled the perpetrator's name and the first thing that came up was a story about a database breach, so I got worried that it wasn't the Panera cards and someone had stolen all my personal information. That court case was from 2006, though. Apparently, he didn't learn from the 8 months in prison or 100 hours of community service he got for that crime. He started selling fraudulently paid-for gift cards on craigslist while on supervised release.
The letter came with a form on which I could describe the impact of his crime in order to help determine his sentence. The thing is, it didn't really have much of an impact on me. I called my credit card company and they removed the charges. There was the slight inconvenience of not having a card for a week and having to fill in some paperwork, but I didn't have to see a therapist about it (one of the questions from the form) and nothing ever showed up on my credit report. That doesn't mean I want him to get off without punishment, especially since it's not a first offence, but I don't know that more time in prison would be any more effective, anyway.
I'm leaning towards just ignoring it (or would that get me in trouble?). Maybe I should call the parole officer and ask what I should do.
posted by Lucy @ 10:18 PM
6
comments
6 Comments:
I'd fill out the form honestly. Just because you didn't have some emotional meltdown doesn't mean he won't be punished.
In terms of the financial impact, say you make $30.00/hour and it took you 3 hours to talk to the credit card people etc... Which, knowing credit card compainies -- it probably did :).
the judge will decide something fair. I mean, he is being sentenced, it seems, or they wouldn't ask. but it's good for them to have realistic information. after that, you'll have to trust them to do the right thing.
I like ItPF's suggestion for quantifying your time.
The good thing about our current credit card policies is that it does reduce the impact on you of these kinds of small breaches. It's the credit card company that took the hundreds of dollars of loss. On the other hand, because the credit card companies are taking those loses from fraud they are raising their fees and interest rates to insure they continue to make huge profits. That's a possible argument (which the judge should already be aware of, of course) for the total societal harm from scams like that.
While the time in prison might not have any direct reformatory effect, it might serve as a deterrent. As I understand it, there is no deterrent effect for things like the death penalty, but I haven't seen any research so I'm not sure if there is a known deterrent of prison time for property crimes or if it's more of a "meet cool people and learn some new skills" effect.
I am also very familiar with this case and disagree that you were not affected. This person took your personal information and used it without your knowledge. So what if it was only for $398, next time maybe he'll be selling your house without your knowledge. What value do you put on your identity? If you take it away, you are no one.
Then there are the costs eaten by your credit card company that Madeleine mentions. These disputed charges are actually charged back to the merchant so if Panera had not been able to cancel the Panera Cards before they were used, they would have been out the $398. Those charges would eventually be passed on to the consumer in the way of price increases.
Then what about the cost and expense of investigating this low-life. There were a number of local police departements, as well as the Secret Service, the FBI and the US Postal Inspectors involved in the investigation and arrest. Where do you think those funds come from? You, as Jane Taxpayer, are paying their salaries.
It's clear that this guy had no respect for you or the law and it's clear he didn't learn his lesson. By ignoring this letter, he may end up getting just another slap on the wrist, instead of the 20 years he's eligible to get.
Concerned citizen, I didn't mean to be saying I didn't think he should be punished, but the people dealing with the case already have all the facts you mentioned. This form seemed to be asking for any impact on me that they wouldn't otherwise know about and I'm not sure there is any.
Thanks for the suggestions about quantifying my time, too.
I'm not certain how the letter was worded, but I do know that he has already been convicted and I believe is in jail. The information that they are requesting is probably going to be used at his sentencing.
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