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Identity theft and fraud is a federal crime and violations are investigated by federal law enforcement agencies. Federal identity theft statutes are used to determine punishment for ID theft crimes. However, individual state laws differ in classification and associated punishment for identity theft cases.
For example, in Georgia, the punishment for financial identity theft is “imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 10 years or a fine not to exceed $100,00, or both for first offense. Punishable by imprisonment for not less than three nor more than 15 years, a fine not to exceed $250,000, or both for subsequent offenses.”
In Arkansas, financial identity fraud is considered a Class C felony, which means that it is punishable by imprisonment for 10 or more years, but less than 25 years. These two states have drastically different sentencing guidelines.
To find out what classification applies to convictions for identity theft crimes in your state, contact your state Attorney General or local consumer protection agency.