H. B. 2026
(By Delegate Barker)
[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §61-3-54 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to amending the crime of identity
theft to provide that it is a felony if a person commits the
crime with the intent to commit any other crime.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-3-54 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
§61-3-54. Taking identity of another person; penalty.
Any person who knowingly takes the name, birth date, social
security number or other identifying information of another person,
without the consent of that other person, with the intent to
fraudulently represent that he or she is the other person for the
purpose of making financial or credit transactions in the other
person's name, or with the intent to commit any crime, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be punished by confinement in
the penitentiary a state correctional facility not less than one
nor more than five years, or and fined not more than one thousand
dollars. or both. In the event a person is convicted a second or
subsequent time under the provisions of this section, he or she
shall be punished by confinement in a correctional facility for no
less than three nor more than ten years, and fined no less than one
thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars: Provided,
That the provisions of this section do not apply to any person who
obtains another person's driver's license or other form of
identification for the sole purpose of misrepresenting his or her
age.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
amend the crime of
identity theft to provide that it is a felony if a person commits
the crime with the intent to commit any other crime. Current
statutory language limits the felony to persons who commit the
crime with the intent to fraudulently represent themselves as
another person for purposes of making credit or financial
transactions.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.