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Marine Sentenced for ID Theft of Peers |
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Written by Brooks Baehr - bbaehr@kgmb9.com
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July 18, 2008 05:52 PM |
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A Kaneohe Marine who admitted to using the personal information of five fellow Marines to apply for credit cards in their names and putting almost $1,000 in charges on one of those cards was sentenced to five years in prison Friday.
In April, 2008 Cpl. Daniel Alfieri pleaded no contest to 22 counts including 14 charges of identity theft and eight other charges including forgery, credit card theft, and credit card fraud.
Before being sentenced Monday Alfieri addressed some of his victims who were in the courtroom.
"I would like to extend my sincerest apologies to all the affected parties involved. I am so very and truly sorry," Alfieri said.
Alfieri's victims were deployed in Iraq when Alfieri used the internet and telephones to apply for cards in their names.
"He waited in ambush like a spider until his victims were half way around the world serving their country in the combat zone to carry out his illegal plans," Staff Sgt. Shawn Garrett told the court during the sentencing hearing. Garrett was one of several victims who asked Circuit Court Judge Randal Lee to sentence Alfieri to prison rather than probation.
Alfieri was deployed to Afghanistan in 2006. His attorney, John Schum, said when Alfieri came back from the war he was bipolar and suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and that those things led to his criminal activity.
"That is not made to minimize what he did, but help to explain how an otherwise outstanding individual could do this," Schum told judge Lee.
Despite the defense's plea for probation, Lee issued the five year prison sentence.
"The defendant obviously knew that these men would be in the combat zone thousands of miles away without access to communications and separated by not only time but by distance where they could not easily verify any questionable charges," Lee said while issuing the sentence.
"The defendant's conduct was well thought out, planned and calculated to avoid detection," Lee added.
"I feel like the judge considered all the factors and ruled the way he should have ruled. A prison term is what was appropriate in this case," said Andria Garrett, Shawn Garrett's wife. |
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Last Updated ( July 26, 2008 03:38 AM )
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