Just about anyone with a criminal conviction has experienced some kind of rejection because of that record. It may have been a landlord's refusal to rent an apartment, a banker's refusal to offer a home mortgage, or an employer's refusal to hire. It may have meant forgoing enrollment in a professional program or losing the opportunity for a security clearance. Whatever rejection you may have suffered because of your criminal record, know that expungement may be available under recent New Jersey expungement reform laws. Sentencing reform advocates have pointed to the 70 million to 100 million Americans with a criminal record to open new doors for those whom a criminal record frustrates and discourages. You may be able to clear your record of a criminal conviction, including a conviction for identity theft. Retain New Jersey criminal defense attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm to help you explore and pursue expungement.
Expungement Means a Fresh Start
Expungement of your identity theft conviction means a fresh start for you. An identity theft conviction could scare off a school from enrolling, an employer from hiring, or a mortgage company from extending home credit. It could also keep you from landing a vocational license or professional license or gaining a security clearance. Expungement means that you can tell these interested parties that you have no such criminal conviction. You can check the none or no box on an employment application's request for criminal convictions, even if your state or city does not have in place ban-the-box legislation. An expungement also clears your record when these interested parties make a routine background check. Expungement may be your fresh start after an identity theft conviction.
Expungement Seals Other Records
Expungement is not just a matter of removing a judgment of conviction for identity theft, leaving exposed all the other related records. Expungement should seal the whole record. New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-1(a) provides that expungement means “the extraction, sealing, impounding, or isolation of all records,” not just a judgment of conviction. New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-1(a) also provides for sealing all records “on file within any court, detention or correctional facility, law enforcement or criminal justice agency,” not just a court record. And New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-1(a) provides for sealing not just the conviction record but all records “concerning a person's detection, apprehension, arrest, detention, trial or disposition of an offense within the criminal justice system.” You get the whole record sealed, not just the judgment of conviction. Indeed, New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-1(b) further provides for the sealing of “complaints, warrants, arrests, commitments, processing records, fingerprints, photographs, index cards, ‘rap sheets,' and judicial docket records.” Even arrest records and booking records disappear from public view. In effect, all thingsrelated to an identity theft charge and conviction should get sealed.
What Happens to the Records
When New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-1refers to extraction, isolation, and sealing, the statute doesn't mean that the court and law enforcement agencies delete, burn, or otherwise destroy the records of an identity theft crime. Extraction and sealing mean that the court and agencies remove the records from public review on background searches. All those websites and private services that employers, schools, licensing boards, landlords, and creditors use to check a person's background won't find the criminal history once the court and law enforcement agencies seal the history from public view. For those purposes, sealing means that the court and agencies effectively represent to the public that the records of an identity theft crime don't exist.
Limited Access Remains
Some limited access to the conviction records does remain despite their expungement. That limited access, though, shouldn't generally affect you. For instance, New Jersey Stat. 2C:52-27 requires you to disclose the expunged conviction if you apply for a diversion program for which you would not qualify if the prior record were disclosed. You surely don't plan, though, on getting another criminal charge where you would be hoping for pretrial diversion. You should also expect disclosure of your sealed identity theft conviction if you apply for court, law enforcement, or corrections employment. And because New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-2 conditions expungement on the number and nature of prior convictions, you should expect a sealed record to remain available to court and law enforcement personnel to check for expunged prior convictions. If you face a new criminal charge, then police and prosecutors can discover your expunged prior conviction. New Jersey criminal defense attorney Joseph D. Lento is available to consult with you if you question what you must disclose.
Defining Identity Theft Crime
New Jersey Stat. §2C:21-17 defines the state's identity theft crime, also known as impersonation. While we generally think of identity theft as having to do with misuse of the internet, identity theft comes in several forms, as New Jersey defines the crime. A person commits identity theft or impersonation under New Jersey Stat. §2C:21-17, not just using the internet or other electronic means but by any means, if the person commits any of the following acts:
- impersonates another or assumes a false identity either to obtain a benefit or injure or defraud another
- pretends to represent another to obtain a benefit or injure or defraud another
- impersonates another, assumes a false identity, or makes a false or misleading statement regarding identity to obtain services
- obtains personal identifying information and uses that information to assume another's identity, to fraudulently obtain a benefit or services or avoid paying a debt or other legal obligation or avoid prosecution
- impersonates another, assumes a false identity, or makes a false or misleading statement to avoid paying for prior services
Penalties for Identity Theft Crimes
Identity theft can be a serious New Jersey crime. The penalties depend on the amount of money involved. Under New Jersey Stat. §2C:21-17, if the defendant obtains a benefit or deprives another of a benefit worth less than $500, the crime is one of the fourth degree, punishable by up to eighteen months imprisonment. A second or subsequent conviction raises the offense to the third degree, punishable by up to five years imprisonment. Identity theft becomes a third-degree offense on a first conviction if the amount is at least $500 but less than $75,000. Identity theft becomes a second-degree offense, punishable by five to ten years imprisonment if the amount is $75,000 or more. If you face a charge of identity theft, retain New Jersey criminal defense attorney Joseph D. Lento to aggressively and effectively represent you.
Expunging Identity Theft Records
Fortunately, identity theft convictions are generally available for expungement. The expungement statute New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-2 is very complex, with abundant conditions and exceptions. The statute has so many ins and outs that every expungement request is effectively unique. Do not rely on general information to determine whether you can expunge your identity theft conviction. And do not rely on your own judgment. Instead, retain a skilled and experienced New Jersey criminal defense attorney who knows the expungement statutes. But the good news is that identity theft is not on the long list of crimes that New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-2 states are not available for expungement. You wouldn't be surprised that the kinds of crimes that New Jersey refuses to expunge include murder, manslaughter, treason, anarchy, kidnapping, rape, and arson, among many other similarly serious crimes. Depending on your unique circumstance, your identity theft crime may qualify for expungement.
When Expungement is Unavailable for Identity Theft
Although identity theft convictions can qualify for expungement, an identity theft conviction will not qualify in every situation. Expungement laws are generally for first-time offenders rather than repeat offenders. Yet recent reforms to New Jersey expungement laws made it possible for some defendants with multiple related convictions to qualify those convictions for expungement. Those reforms are incorporated into New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-2. You can, in some instances, expunge multiple convictions, including for identity theft when combined with or related to other crimes qualifying for expungement. But if a defendant suffers unrelated convictions before or after the identity theft convictions, then the defendant may, in effect, be the sort of repeat offender for whom the expungement statutes do not apply. Once again, though, do not rely alone on this general information. Consult a criminal defense attorney who knows the New Jersey laws on expungement.
Retain a New Jersey Expungement Attorney
New Jersey criminal defense attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm are available to review your New Jersey criminal conviction for identity theft or your other criminal record. Attorney Lento can represent you in expungement matters for which you qualify. Retain skilled, committed, and experienced attorney representation. Contact the Lento Law Firm at 888.535.3686 or online to speak with attorney Joseph D. Lento.
