Hawaii prosecutor seeks life in prison for accused identity thief

[BlueJessamine]

Source: Honolulu Advertiser

The prosecutor's office wants to lock away for life a Kailua woman indicted yesterday on 122 criminal counts including identity theft, forgery and money laundering.

Susan E. Shaw allegedly stole some $160,000 from at least 11 victims from January 2008 through last month, and an investigation of her activities is continuing, deputy prosecuting attorney Christopher Van Marter said.

Shaw was arrested by Honolulu police detectives Sunday at the airport when she returned from an overseas trip. She is being held on $1 million bail.

Van Marter wouldn't say how Shaw obtained the personal information of her victims, and the victims said they did not know. Only one of the victims, a neighbor, knew Shaw personally.

Once Shaw got the information, including Social Security numbers, she would apply for credit cards in the names of her victims and arrange "holds" on mail deliveries as well as changes of mailing addresses, Van Marter said.

Read more: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090513/NEWS01/905130377/Hawaii+prosecutor+seeks+life+in+prison+for+accused+identity+thief

---

snip:

Prosecutors will be seeking a life term in prison based on the sheer magnitude (of the scheme) and the harm she has caused her victims.

[Demeter]

1. Under Those Sentencing Guidelines

they'd have to crucify BushCo! Several times a day.

[nyc 4 Biden]

2. "sheer magnitude"?????

$160,000 ain't squat! I see bigger fraud schemes than that which aren't even prosecuted because they are too small. Her mistake was not stealing millions or billions, then she would have been given a slap on the wrist.

[sofa king]

5. Maybe part of the magnitude isn't seen.

The non-disclosure of how she gained her victims' information might be the tip-off. Wonder if she's dating an NSA employee?

[bertman]

3. Sounds good to me. This has nothing to do with Bush or Wall Street, folks. It's about

someone who stole from her neighbors and probably would have continued to do so had she not been caught.

Think for a minute how YOU would feel if you found out someone was using your name for obtaining credit cards and spending thousands of dollars without your knowledge. Reflect on how you would feel if you were not getting your mail because some asshole put a hold on it so they could steal from you.

This woman is a sorry piece of shit.

Life busting rocks is my recommendation.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. And she left so many mutilated bodies in her wake -

and all those traumatized molested children! And all the people whose lives have been irrevocably shattered!

What the FUCK?

Yeah, she's a criminal. But life in prison is a little bit extreme for someone who committed non-violent theft, and for such a paltry amount. You get guys like Milkin and Madoff getting 20 years for stealing hundreds of millions, and think THIS is appropriate?

[bertman]

7. Where did you get that I think it's appropriate for Milkin or Madoff to get 20 years??

Personally, I think the penalties for theft on the level they commit them should be life in prison, plus the state should do everything it can to recover the losses from the estate of the thieves and use it to compensate the victims. The damage they do to families and our nation is never calculated but it is irreparable.

Identity theft is an incredibly invasive and harrowing experience for those who have been unfortunate enough to undergo it. Maybe you should do a little reading up on what honest people go through when thieving scum start using an unsuspecting individual's credit ratings, credit cards, and hard-earned financial resources. It is ugly. It is debilitating. And until the perpetrator is found you basically live your life wondering if it will ever be normal again. You are besieged by bill collectors trying to squeeze you for the money you did NOT spend. You cannot get more credit because your credit rating is screwed. In some cases, the thieves empty out bank accounts, leaving the affected person penniless.

Those are the things that the thieves could care less about. All they care about is that they are living life on somebody else's money. I have no sympathy for anyone who does that to another human being. They are worse than animals.

As far as your ridiculous analogy to mutilated bodies and molested children, are you serious?

[gvstn]

6. Life in prison...

Life in prison is a bit harsh for non-violent theft. Let's get a grip.

The credit reporting agencies have a great deal of culpability in identity theft. They choose to use SSN as a person's unique identifier. Unique yet Global. One number that let's you access all of any given person's personal information across multiple companies. Medical, banking, purchases, scholastic etc. It is ridiculous!

The credit agencies should be responsible to come up with their own number or system to validate your ID. And keep it safe. Right now they insist on using a number that by law should be for governmental purposes only and then accept no responsibility for keeping it safe. Most of the problem with identity theft is not the money stolen but getting the credit agencies to acknowledge that they are the root of the problem and immediately make things right by the victim. Instead the victim goes through months of trauma trying to undo the damage.

I really don't understand how this is continually overlooked by regulators.

[bertman]

8. That's like saying the automotive dealership is responsible for someone stealing

your vehicle because they sold you a car. Why are you blaming someone who had nothing to do with the theft?

People CHOOSE to steal social security numbers and use them to take away other people's earnings. The vast majority of us don't steal people's SSN and commit crimes, even if we work somewhere that we have access to others' SSN's and other personal information.

The people who do that are criminals who prey on others.

I suggest we make an example out of the folks who think it's okay to steal from others. I know guys who have done time for theft who figured they'd only have to serve a couple of years before they got out, so they think it's worth the risk. They didn't have to hold down a job, pay taxes, keep a schedule. Just break into homes every now and then and take what they needed. They didn't give a shit how hard other people had to work to get those possessions. It was all about their being able to live their lifestyle and they were willing to do the time if they were unlucky enough to get caught. Maybe a LONG sentence would be more of a deterrent.