ID Theft

Can you believe this judge ruled not a crime for illegals to use someone’s identity to obtain employment ?

For Lora and Jamey Costner, a $7,854 federal income tax bill is the painful indigestion that followed two unsatisfying servings of identity theft cooked up by two former Koch Foods employees... The criminal cases involving the Newport married couple and the two illegal immigrants, who IRS records indicate worked for Koch Foods, have been resolved in the court system. The bitter aftertaste that remains is the unpalatable possibility of having their wages garnished to pay tax bills on income they never earned ... "The overall burden of it all is crushing us, please help," the Costners wrote in an appeal to U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. "We have done all we know to do." Mrs. Costner says she realized the magnitude of the problem in July when the IRS informed her that she and her husband failed to report approximately $30,000 in income they earned at Koch Foods during 2005. The Costners say it’s easy to prove they both worked at Wallace Hardware in Morristown during 2005. Relatedly, Mrs. Costner maintains it’s child’s play to prove they never worked at Koch Foods during that year. The foreshadowing for Mr. Costner materialized in April 2006 when learned that he was in danger of losing his driver’s license because of unpaid citations for speeding and driving without insurance. The traffic stop came at 3 o’clock in the morning while Mr. Costner was asleep. Also, the driver reportedly did not speak English. Police identified Mrs. Costner’s impersonator as Elizabeth Velasco Bautista, who later pleaded guilty to criminal impersonation... The interloper in Mr. Costner’s life was Douglas Valdez, according to Ellis. Ellis says Valdez avoided the identity-theft charge because a judge ruled that it was not a crime to use someone’s identity to obtain employment. The Costners remain in IRS legal limbo.http://www.citizentribune.com/news/view_sections.asp?idcategory=9&idarticle=7876 So using the judge’s identity to commit crimes would be legal too? It’s a virtual certainty now that a Cocke County married couple won’t have to pay a $7,854 IRS tax bill for income earned by two illegal immigrants at Koch Foods, sources say. Jamey and Lora Costner say the IRS had threatened to garnish their wages, despite identity-theft arrests of two former Koch Foods employees and a police detective’s affidavit stating they should not have to pay. "It’s amazing that somebody is finally listening to us," said Mrs. Costner, who worked for Wallace Hardware during the time that an illegal immigrant was using her maiden name and Social Security number at Koch Foods. "They said they were working on it and they thought they were going to get it taken care of." http://www.citizentribune.com/news/view_sections.asp?idcategory=9&idarticle=7885

Public Comments

1. That's the stupidest thing i've ever heard of.
2. Either there is a hole in the law that needs to be closed or the judge is an idiot. These days it is hard to call. Maybe both.
3. WHAT? The judge got away with that s***? He needs someone to steal his identity. Release his name and this story to everyone in America, is what really needs to happen. This is very frightening. *Andy, I can hardly believe that it is not a crime to use someone's identity to obtain employment, get a DL, etc., in TN. It is a crime in every state. If there was a loophole, it wasn't this.
4. This is liberalism run wild. The Democrats have seeded the courts to a point that I worry if we have not lost this country all together
5. There are more than one holes. If the judge "ruled that it was not a crime to use someone’s identity to obtain employment" in Tennessee then they need to pass a law making it a crime! This doesn't just concern illegal immigrants but all citizens. And by the way, Tennessee is mostly controlled by the GOP in the state chambers, who has the responsibility to make law. Judges only interpret law (if there is one). Then there's the IRS. They need to totally reorganize that agency. It was, is and has always been an agency plaque with inefficiency and corruption. Where is the government accountability? Unfortunately for the victims, they have to go through court and it sounds like that haven't done so.
6. The judge is an idiot.
7. Under my immigration plan that judge would be doing five years in prison in general population with no chance for early release or parole.
8. Unreal- That is Hawkins county, Tn it's a little on the rural side- which is what shocks me about that judge- i would have assumed he would throw the book at a thieving illegal. How many other people do you think are working at Koch foods under assumed identities- looks like the place needs to be investigated by ICE.
9. There was a time when a scumbag judge like this would have found himself invited to a late-night necktie party. Too bad we've become too civilized for that kind of thing anymore. I assume the Costners are appealing the assinine ruling. Too bad judges are immune from civil litigations.
10. I seriously question the accuracy of this story. Note that the key fact begins with "according to Ellis, Ellis says" Also, please point me to the section where it says it was an illegal immigrant?
11. Thats what happens when you let in a bunch of muds. You should be proud your standing up to the mongrels invading America. America needs more white woman like you to stop the illegal invasion. we dont want any mexicans legal or not your not an american just because you were born here, if that were the case blacks would be americans too.
12. Start handing out sentences to criminals that actually punish them!! Taking them to the middle of the ocean. Kick them in and let them swim back, would be a good way to alleviate the overcrowding in our penal system. Those that make it back would give up crime and be upstanding citizens those that don't would be fish food. Lets get back to being the nation we can and used to be. QUIT letting the criminals and liberals make policy.
13. Gee, I thought fraud was a crime.... These judges just love illegals and pedophiles.
14. That Judge should have his commision discharged. He is a moron and a traitor.
15. It probably means there's a rather large hole in the law which has yet to be addressed. Don't blame the judge for not being able to make up laws on the spot. He probably wishes he could judge against them as well. But until either the US or state Congress write and pass a law which covers this specific problem, there's not a thing he can do about it. Current laws only forbid using others' identities to take their money or to commit fraudulent transactions in their name. Apparently they don't cover their use to obtain employment. Judges don't write laws, they only arbitrate in their application. I think that all you responders should learn a thing about law before judging someone too harshly. Isn't judging someone like that a sin, anyway?