Identity Thief Thursday: School Identity Thief Loses Plea Deal

April 10, 2008

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So you get arrested and charged with 69 counts of fraud, theft, and identity theft which carries a maximum of 35 years in prison, but your lawyers manage to work out a deal where you only have to serve 5. Seems like a pretty good deal right?

Not if you are Tynesha West. In a rare move, the judge who had accepted the 26 year old’s 5 year plea bargain changed her mind and withdrew it at the last second when she found out about West’s criminal record for similar crimes. West now faces going to court and risk getting the full 35 years, or take a new 10 year plea bargain.

Teachers, Lock Up Your Belongings

What were those crimes? Tynesha would pose as a volunteer, teacher, or student and sneak into Bay Area classrooms and steal teachers’ wallets. She then went nuts buying stuff using the credit cards and bank accounts inside. She even made up fake drivers licenses and opened up new accounts using the teachers’ identities.

The case she is being charged with had 24 victims named. When Judge Stark agreed to the 5 year plea, what she didn’t know that West had been convicted of the same thing in other towns in Northern California. Once she found that out it was game over. I imagine her probation record which “included fighting with other inmates” didn’t help either.

Needless to say, Tynesha’s lawyer is not at all happy about losing the plea bargain but in my opinion it is nice to see a judge doing the right thing instead of just saying “my hands are tied”.

Do you think the plea bargain should have stayed?

Source: San Jose Mercury News

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