Identify theft is a rapidly growing area of criminal law. As a result, legislatures around the country have been creating and/or updating their statutes to address the problem. For example, here is the Virginia statute on identity theft: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/18.2-186.3/. In addition, here is the DOJ website on identity theft. (Notice that under the federal law, this crime can result in up to 15 years in prison.)

Use Nexis Uni to find virginia's identity theft law. Summarize it, then apply it to your analysis of the below fact patterns.

Tell us what you think Grace and/or Al should do also what their outcomes might be:

1. Grace owns a house jointly with her husband, Charlie. Charlie dies unexpectedly and Grace, who doesn't have a job, keeps paying the mortgage with the life insurance proceeds. She doesn't tell the bank that Charlie died. Is she guilty of a crime? What happens when she wants to sell or refinance the house?

2. Al came to the US from another country and due to immigration issues, used a fake social security number to get a job. He did not know that the number actually belonged to someone. What is an appropriate charge for him? What US Supreme Court case answers this question and what do you think of the Court's opinion?

Here are some stories of identity theft from Texas. Notice where Lt Mike worked! https://www2.texasattorneygeneral.gov/identitytheft/real-stories-of-identity-theft