Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Social Security, 4-29-02 Testimony

Statement of Anthangtha Guialdo, Legal Assistant, Identity Theft Unit, County Court Division,
State Attorney's Office, 17th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Broward County, Florida

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Social Security
of the House Committee on Ways and Means

Field Hearing in Lake Worth, Florida, on Protecting of the Privacy of Social Security Numbers and Preventing Identity Theft

April 29, 2002

My name is Anthangtha Guialdo and I am a Legal Assistant assigned to the Identity Theft Unit within the County Court Division of the Office of the State Attorney, 17^th Judicial Circuit in Broward County. Assistant State Attorney In Charge Lee G. Cohen and I have been asked by State Attorney Michael J. Satz to represent this office at this hearing. The Identity Theft Unit, originally referred to as the “Not Me” Unit, was created by Mr. Satz in 1978 to assist those whose identities have been misused in criminal cases. I have been working in this unit for 5 years. This unit processes approximately 2400 cases each year.

A majority of the cases presented to me are done so by the accused (currently named defendant) wherein they are claiming that they have been mistakenly accused of a crime when in fact law enforcement or the Office of the State Attorney intended to charge someone else (often referred to as a “Not Me” case). This is due to the true perpetrator using the name or otherwise identifying him or herself as the accused. The perpetrators are usually family members or acquaintances of the accused or strangers who have gained access to personal information of the accused. I have even had my identity stolen by one of the accused that I was trying to help but as you can imagine, she had difficulty in determining the correct spelling of my name.

My duties include determining whether this office charges the right person as well as initiating investigations into prosecuting those who have unlawfully used the identities of others. The most prevalent type of cases I deal with are driving offenses wherein a suspect comes to this unit claiming that they received a citation for a criminal or civil traffic offense in their name and that in fact, they were never stopped for such offense. Other misdemeanor and felony cases are also presented where the currently charged defendant claims “Not Me.” When a defendant begins to claim that there has been a mistaken identity as to who committed the crime or poses an alibi (i.e. “It was me who they arrested but I didn’t do it”), that defendant is immediately referred to his or her lawyer for further legal advice.

When processing a case in this unit, I will interview the suspect and obtain as much personal documentary information I can including fingerprints, signatures, and copies of driver’s license. I will then obtain records and photographs from several agencies including the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the local police agencies as well as have fingerprint comparisons made. Occasionally officers or witnesses will be asked to come to the office to see if identifications can be made in order to determine true identities. If I determine that the wrong person is accused then recommendations are made to the Assistant State Attorneys for the charges to be dismissed. If the identity of the true perpetrator is determined, orders and corrected charging documents will be drafted reflecting the correct person’s identity as well as the charging of additional criminal charges pursuant to F.S.S. 817.568 for Criminal Use of Personal Identification Information, F.S.S. 843.02 Resisting/Obstructing Officer without Violence and F.S.S. 831.01/831.02 Forgery. (See “Exhibit A”)

In processing my cases, I rely heavily on the validity of Social Security numbers. For example, when checks are made through the National Criminal Information Services and the Florida Criminal Information Services the Social Security number is linked to the master (true) name as an identifier, as well as listing all alias names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. (See “Exhibit B”) Additionally, during the booking process, and more importantly for me (due to no fingerprinting of photographing of the suspect), during the issuing of a Notice to Appear/Citation in place of booking, the suspect is often inquired as to his or her Social Security number, which can later be used to verify or distinguish identity. (See “Exhibit C”) The Social Security number is also used to verify the accuracy of the transposition of names from person to document and document to document, as well as being used to distinguish between persons with common names. (See “Exhibit D”) Our Information (charging documents) even lists the Social Security number on the top for identification purposes. (See “Exhibit E”)

State Attorney Michael J. Satz conveys his appreciation for requesting input from this office in this matter. Anything that can be done to insure the validity of Social Security numbers will assist in this unit’s goal to ensure that only the correct defendants are charged with crimes and to assist those victims of the system who are mistakenly charged due to the criminal acts of others.