18 USC 1028 Identity Theft Federal Charges - What You Need to Know Before Its Too Late

If you are reading this at 2am because federal agents mentioned your name in connection with identity theft, you are in the right place. Spodek Law Group has helped hundreds of clients navigate the terrifying waters of federal criminal charges, and we want you to understand exactly what you are facing. Not the sanitized version you will find on government websites. The real version. The one that explains why this charge is designed to crush you into a guilty plea.

The statute you are probably researching right now is 18 USC 1028. It sounds like just another federal law. Just another charge. But buried inside this statute is a trap that most people do not discover until it is too late. The "aggravated" version of identity theft does not just add time to your sentence. It multiplies it. And by the time most defendants understand what that means, the window to fight back has already closed.

Here is what we want you to walk away understanding. That 2-year mandatory minimum everyone keeps mentioning is not the ceiling. It is not even the real number. It is a floor that gets stacked and stacked until the identity theft charge itself becomes longer than the crime it attached to. This is not an accident. This is how the system was designed.

What 18 USC 1028 Actually Charges You With

OK so lets talk about what this statute actualy covers because its way broader then most people realize. The government can charge you under 18 USC 1028 for making fake IDs, using someone elses information, possessing fraudulant documents, or even just having five or more identification documents with intent to transfer them. Thats the basic version. The one most people think about when they hear "identity theft."

But heres were it gets complicated. Theres also 18 USC 1028A. The aggravated version. And this one triggers when your identity theft occured "during and in relation to" any of over 60 different federal felonies. We need to stop here and let that sink in. 60 different crimes. Wire fraud. Bank fraud. Immigration violations. Firearms offenses. Theft of government property. Drug trafficking. Mail fraud. Computer fraud. Health care fraud. Tax fraud. The list goes on and on and on.

Read that list again. Every single one of those triggers the enhancement.

What this means practicaly is that if your accused of basicly any serious federal crime and identity theft was involved, you dont get charged with regular 1028. You get charged with 1028A. The aggravated version. And thats were your problems truely begin. Because the aggravated version comes with somthing called "mandatory consecutive sentencing" - and that phrase is going to haunt you.

The FBI and Secret Service are the primary agencies investigating these cases. They dont get involved in small stuff. If federal agents are talking to you or people you know, its because they beleive your part of somthing significant. Somthing crossing state lines. Somthing involving substantial losses. Somthing that warrants the full weight of federal prosecution.

The 2-Year Sentence That Isnt Really 2 Years

Heres the thing most lawyers dont explain clearly enough. That 2-year mandatory minimum for aggravated identity theft is CONSECUTIVE. Not concurrent. Consecutive. Do you understand what that means?

When most people hear "mandatory minimum" they think its the worst case. They think 2 years is the maximum penalty for this perticular offense. They think they can plan around that number. But thats completly wrong. Thats the trap. The 2 years gets added ON TOP of whatever sentence you recieve for the underlying crime. Your facing 5 years for wire fraud? Now your facing 7. Got 10 years for bank fraud? Now its 12. That 2 years isnt instead of anything. Its in addition to everything.

And the judge cant do anything about it. Zero discretion. Thats not an exageration. The word "mandatory" in federal sentencing means exactly what you think it does. The judge cannot reduce it. Cannot make it concurrent. Cannot show mercy no matter how compelling your circumstances. Cannot take into account your family situation, your health problems, your cooperation with investigators. None of it matters for those 24 months. Congress tied there hands on purpose.

Think about what that means for judicial independence. Federal judges - people who spent decades in the legal profession, who understand nuance and context and circumstances - have absolutley no power when it comes to the 1028A sentence. They sit on the bench and impose a sentence they might personally find unjust, because Congress decided prosecutors should have that power instead.

WARNING: Federal judges have absolutely no power to reduce the 1028A sentence. This is built into the statute and there is no exception.

The 2-year sentence sounds managable. Its ment to sound managable. Thats the design. That way defendants dont realize what there actualy facing until its to late. They hire lawyers who talk about "2 year enhancement" and they think they understand. But they dont.

How Prosecutors Stack Counts to Multiply Your Prison Time

Let that sink in for a second. Because this is were the real trap lies. This is the insight that nobody wants you to understand.

What defendants often dont understand is that the two years for aggravated identity theft isnt just added once. Its added for EACH COUNT. Each identity you used. Each time you used it in connection with a seperate act. Prosecutors can charge multipel counts of aggravated identity theft, and each one carrys its own mandatory two-year consecutive sentence.

Seven identities. Fourteen years. Not two. Fourteen.

Let me spell that out more clearly becuase I need you to understand this. A defendant facing wire fraud with 7 counts of aggravated identity theft isnt facing 20 years plus 2 years. Theyre facing 20 years plus 14 years. The "aggravated" charge didnt add to there sentence. It nearly doubled it. The identity theft enhancement became larger then the underlying crime.

This is exactly what prosecutors want you to miss. They know that most defendants and even alot of lawyers focus on that "2 year mandatory minimum" language without realizing the multiplication effect. So they stack counts. They file 7 seperate 1028A charges. They file 10. They file 15. And then they offer to "drop" most of them in exchange for a guilty plea on the underlying offense plus a couple counts.

Heres the kicker. Those extra counts they offer to drop? They created those counts specificaly to have somthing to drop. The stacking is leverage. Its designed to make trial feel impossible. Its designed to make you look at the math and decide that fighting is suicide. Its designed to make you plead guilty.

Think about how this plays out in the real world. Prosecutor calls your lawyer. Says theyre looking at 7 counts of aggravated identity theft on top of the wire fraud. Thats 14 years consecutive. But if you plead guilty today, theyll drop 5 of those counts. Now your only facing 4 years consecutive instead of 14. Feels like a great deal, right? Except those extra 5 counts probably shouldnt of existed in the first place. They were leverage. They were created to be dropped.

The 99 Percent Reality Check

99 percent. Thats not a typo.

According to the United States Sentencing Commission, 99% of people convicted under 18 USC 1028A go to federal prison. Not probation. Not home confinement. Not electronic monitoring. Federal prison. Almost everyone. The data is unambigous.

Think about what that number means for your situtation. If your charged under the aggravated identity theft statute, the odds of avoiding incarseration are basicly non-existant. This isnt state court were plea bargains to probation are common. This isnt a local prosecutor who knows the community and uses discretion. This is federal court. And the feds dont bring cases they cant win. They have resources. They have time. They have the entire weight of the Department of Justice behind them.

The average sentence for 1028A convictions is 54 months. Thats four and a half years. Four and a half years away from your family. Away from your job. Away from everything you know. And heres the part that should terrify you - that number was 44 months just five years ago. Sentences are getting LONGER, not shorter. The Commission reports that the average guideline minimum has increased from 56 months to 68 months since 2020.

CRITICAL: The federal system is getting harsher on identity theft, not more lenient. Do not expect mercy from a system designed to deny it.

575 cases were reported in fiscal year 2024. Down 12.9% from 2020. Fewer cases. But sentences UP. Way up. What does that tell you? It tells you the government is being more selective about who they charge - and absolutley crushing the people they do charge. Quality over quantity. They want convictions, long sentences, and headlines.

79.1% of people convicted under 1028A are men. There average age is 39. These are people with careers, families, responsabilities. People who thought they would never end up in this situation. People who probably told themselves they were to smart to get caught.

Flores-Figueroa - The One Defense That Can Actually Work

OK so this is were it gets intresting. Because the Supreme Court actualy gave defendants a powerfull defense. Once. In 2009. And most people facing identity theft charges have never even heard of it.

In Flores-Figueroa v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the government has to prove you KNEW the identification you used belonged to a real person. Not that you should of known. Not that a reasonable person would of known. Not that you were reckless or negligant. That you actualy knew. Knew with certainty that another human being owned that identity.

Ignacio Flores-Figueroa was a Mexican citizen who used fake Social Security and alien registration cards containing his real name but other peoples identification numbers. He argued he didnt know those numbers belonged to actuall people. Maybe they were made up. Maybe they were fabricated. The government said it didnt matter - the statute says "of another person" and the numbers DID belong to other people. Knowledge was irrelevant.

The Supreme Court said no. Unanimously. Justice Breyer wrote that the word "knowingly" in the statute applys to EVERY element of the crime, including the "of another person" part. If you genuinly beleived the identification was made up, was fabricated, was generated randomly, didnt belong to anyone real - you might have a defense.

But heres why most defendants cant actualy use this defense effectivley. Circumstantial evidence almost always fills that gap. If you used a real Social Security number that returned benefits when your employer ran it through E-Verify, the inference that you knew is overwelming. If you obtained credit using that number. If you filed taxes. If you passed background checks. Every succesfull use of the stolen identity creates more evidence that you must of known it worked because it was real.

The defense requires proving a negitive. Proving you DIDNT know. And thats incrediblly difficult without early preparation, exculpatory evidence, and expertiese that most defendants dont bring to the table in time. You need witnesses. You need documentation. You need a theory that makes your ignorance believable.

Todd Spodek and the team at Spodek Law Group have handeld numerous cases were Flores-Figueroa was the centeral defense strategy. We understand the evidentary requirements. We know what kind of evidence courts find persuasive. We know how to build the record before trial. But this defense requires early intervention. It requires preparation that starts before charges are even filed. If you wait untill your indicted, the oppurtunity may already be gone.

What Happens When You Wait Too Long to Act

Heres were most people make the fatel mistake. They wait.

Matthew Keirans stole someones identity for three decades. Thirty years. Used it for employment, benefits, loans, everything. When DNA testing finaly revealed the truth, the actual victim had alredy been institutionalized in a mental hospital - becuase no one beleived him when he said he wasnt Keirans. The courts found the real victim incompetant. He was forced to recieve psychotropic medication while the identity theif walked free. When it all unraveled, Keirans got 12 years. 144 months in federal prison. Plus a $10,000 fine. His victim lost decades of his life to a mental institution.

Katina Candrick was a hospital billing representitive in Texas who stole over 1,200 identities from patient accounts. She used her position at MedAssets to illegaly obtain personal information from the billing accounts she handeled. She got 15 years. Consecutive sentences of 10 plus 5. Ordered to pay $165,000 in restitution. A carrer. A life. Gone.

Damien Dennis ran an identity theft scheme on the dark web. Didnt just steal identities himself - taught others how to do it. How to obtain bank loans using stolen information. How to exploit the system. 12 years in federal prison. No parole. Because federal sentences dont include parole. That 12 years means 12 years.

These people didnt get caught early and take action. They waited. They hoped it would go away. They thought maybe the feds wouldnt find out. They didnt understand that federal investigations can take years - literaly years - and by the time charges are filed, the stacking is already locked in. The decision about how many counts to file has already been made.

By the time most people hire a lawyer, the indictment has alredy dropped. The counts are already filed. The stacking has already happened. Your lawyer at that point isnt fighting to prevent damage - there doing damage control. There trying to minimize whats already occured.

Pre-indictment is were battles are won. Post-indictment is damage control. And most defendants dont understand this distinction untill its to late.

The Pre-Charge Window Nobody Tells You About

This is the part most websites wont tell you. This is the insider knowlege that seperates people who get crushed from people who survive.

Before charges are filed, before your officialy a defendant, before you ever set foot in a courtroom - there is a window. A brief window were your attorney can talk to prosecutors directly. Can present mitigating evidence. Can argue against certain counts being filed. Can demonstrate weaknesses in the governments case. Can sometimes prevent the aggravated version from being charged at all.

Everything changes the moment charges are filed. Everything.

Once your indicted, the government has commited to there theory of the case. They've publicaly announced there intentions. They've alredy decided how many counts to file. They've already made the stacking decision. The charging document becomes public record. Your name is attatched to the allegations. Your attorney can still negotiate - but from a position of weekness, not strength.

Think of it like this. Before charges, your attorney is a diplomat trying to prevent a war. After charges, there a soldier fighting a war that has alredy begun. Diplomacy ends conflicts before they start. Soldiers deal with conflicts that have alredy erupted. Which position would you rather be in?

Spodek Law Group has intervened in federal investigations before charges were filed. We have gotten counts reduced. We have gotten aggravated charges downgraded to regular 1028. We have gotten cases declined entirely when we demonstrated to prosecutors that there evidence wouldnt hold up at trial. But every single one of those successfull outcomes required the client to contact us BEFORE they became a defendant.

Your window is measured in weeks, not months. If you know your under investigation - if agents have contacted you, if a codefendant is talking, if you recieved a target letter, if you heard through the grapevine that your name came up - that window is alredy closing. Every day you wait is a day prosecutors use to build there case. A day you loose and they gain.

What You Need to Do Right Now

Stop reading. Start calling.

Look, I know this is overwelming. Your probly freaking out right now. Cant sleep. Cant think straight. Running through every possible scenario in your head. Thats normal. Federal charges are terrifying. The system is designed to be terrifying. But panic wont help you. Action will.

First - do not talk to anyone about your case. Not friends who seem sympatheic. Not family members who want to help. Not coworkers who might of been involved. And absolutly do not talk to federal agents without an attorney present. Anything you say can and will be used against you. That Miranda warning isnt just a formality. Its a warning.

Second - do not destroy evidence. Do not delete emails. Do not wipe computers. Do not throw away documents. Do not clear your browser history. Obstruction charges under 18 USC 1512 can add 20 years to your sentence. Twenty years for deleting an email. The cover-up is always worse then the crime. Always.

Third - call an attorney who handles federal identity theft cases specificaly. Not a state criminal defense lawyer who handels DUIs and drug charges. Not a general practitioner who does a little of everything. Someone who understands 18 USC 1028, 18 USC 1028A, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the pre-charge intervention window, and the Flores-Figueroa defense.

Every day you wait is a day prosecutors are building there case. A day the window shrinks. A day your options dissapear.

Spodek Law Group is available 24/7 for federal criminal consultations. We dont sleep when our clients are in crisis. Call 212-300-5196. Right now. Tonight. We've helped hundreds of clients facing federal charges, and we understand exactly what your up against.

Dont let the 2-year number fool you. Dont let the stacking crush you. Dont let the system work exactly as its designed to work - by terrifying you into submission.

Get help now, while theres still time to fight.