Sacramento, CA

Since I know there are very few people in Sacramento who subsrcibe to the TriValley Herald, I thought I’d share a story with you that I read in there today. Stefani Ruland of Carmichael was arrested in January for identity theft. Prosecutors in Pleasanton have recently added additional counts bringing the grand total to seventeen felony charges. She is being charged with eleven counts of identity theft, three counts of possession of stolen property, and three counts of burglary. At the time of her arrest, officers found a large quantity of merchandise from Nordstrom at Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton that had been purchased using someone else’s credit card. She was also in possession of twenty fake driver’s licenses with her photograph on them and five authentic licenses that she had not yet altered.

The most astonishing part to me though is that she was on probation at the time of her arrest. What was she convicted of you ask? Well, that would be none other than…IDENTITY THEFT CRIMES!!! It made me so angry to read that. It brings me back to all of the tirades I’ve been on lately about our criminal justice system. I really don’t want to start that again though–since it’s likely to sound like a broken record anyway. Suffice to say that something needs to be done because this is crystal clear evidence that slapping someone on the wrist with admonitions to “never do it again” simply isn’t working. All I’ll say for now is that we need to take a much more firm stance with ALL criminals if we are ever to win the war on crime. If you do want to read a further explanation, check out one of my earlier posts on either Michael Vick or Gregg Michael Pistochini. Anyway, have a great day and don’t do anything to earn yourself five seconds of fame in the local police blotter!

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