Suspect charges $6,300 using judge's ID
| 9/3/2006, 9:13 p.m. ET The Associated Press |
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — The people who burglarized Macomb County Circuit Judge Mary Chrzanowski's home in the late 1990s got caught. She's hoping the same thing happens to whoever stole her identity and charged $6,300 in her name.
The thief obtained her Social Security number and birth date, then opened accounts with a Syracuse, N.Y., address and ran up a $5,800 phone bill and $500 in credit card charges.
"Unbelievable," Chrzanowski told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens in an e-mail interview. "I guess I'm lucky the debts incurred were not high. Things could have been worse."
The Macomb County Sheriff's Office and the companies' fraud investigators are looking into the theft. The sheriff's office has a suspect, but a spokesman said the probe might take several weeks to complete.
Chrzanowski, who lives in Harrison Township, discovered the theft after receiving a call from a collection agency about her Sprint telephone bill.
"It's not a good feeling to have bill collectors knocking on your door demanding payment for a bill you never incurred," she said. "I will now spend the rest of my life checking my credit report in fear that this will happen again."
The judge may not have to pay the bills, although she's aware it could take several months to clear up her credit.
Chrzanowski asked for leniency for the thieves who burglarized her home. "I asked the judge to not to put them in prison if they'd return all of my jewelry," she said.
"All I'd like to accomplish this time is an awareness by the person that stole my identity that they got caught. It is not my place to say what the appropriate punishment should be."
