People v. Elcock

919 N.E.2d 984, 396 Ill. App. 3d 524, 336 Ill. Dec. 59, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 1165
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided November 20, 2009·No. 2-07-1273·Published·Cited by 25 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE BOWMAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial, defendant, Germaine Aretha Albertha Elcock, a/k/a Yvette Michelle Williams, 1 was convicted of aggravated identity theft of over $100,000 (720 ILCS 5/16G — 20 (West 2006)), theft of over $100,000 (720 ILCS 5/16 — 1(a)(1) (West 2006)), and wire fraud (720 ILCS 5/17 — 24(a) (West 2006)). The trial court found that the latter convictions merged into the aggravated identity theft conviction, and it sentenced defendant to 18 years’ imprisonment. On appeal, defendant argues that: (1) her convictions of aggravated identify theft and theft of over $100,000 must be vacated because the victims did not have a common interest in the money; (2) her conviction of aggravated identity theft of over $100,000 must also be vacated because Illinois law does not provide for the aggregation of multiple acts of identity theft; (3) the cause must be remanded to set a schedule for the payment of restitution; and (4) the trial court improperly ordered defendant to pay fines and costs not authorized by statute. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and vacate in part and remand the cause.

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant was charged by a seven-count information in April 2007. All counts related to the period between October 1 and December 31, 2006. Count I charged defendant with aggravated identity theft of over $100,000 (720 ILCS 5/16G — 20 (West 2006)), “in that in a series of acts in furtherance of a single intention and design, [she] knowingly used the personal identifying information of Janet Stein and Charlotte Weidman, being their names, to fraudulently obtain $116,053.37 in the names of’ Stein and Weidman. Count I also alleged that Stein and Weidman were over 60 years old. Count II charged defendant with aggravated identity theft of between $10,000 and $100,000 (720 ILCS 5/16G — 20 (West 2006)) for using Stein’s name to fraudulently obtain $45,000. Count III charged defendant with aggravated identity theft of between $10,000 and $100,000 for using Stein’s social security number to fraudulently obtain $45,000. Count IV charged defendant with aggravated identity theft of between $10,000 and $100,000 for using Weidman’s name to fraudulently obtain $71,053.37 credit. Count V charged defendant with aggravated identity theft of between $10,000 and $100,000 for using Weidman’s social security number to fraudulently obtain $71,053.37 credit. Count VI charged defendant with theft of over $100,000 (720 ILCS 5/16 — (a)(1) (West 2006)) in that she, “in a series of acts in furtherance of a single intention and design, knowingly exerted unauthorized control over the property of Janet Stein and Charlotte Wiedman [sic], being United States Currency having a total value in excess of $100,000,” intending to permanently deprive them of the money. Count VII charged defendant with wire fraud (720 ILCS 5/17 — 24(a) (West 2006)) for using electronic impulses received by a person in Illinois in furtherance of a scheme to obtain money through false representations.

On August 17, 2007, defendant filed motions to suppress statements and other evidence. Following a hearing, the trial court denied the motions on August 24, 2007.

Defendant’s trial took place from October 10, 2007, to October 12, 2007. Stein testified as follows. She was 74 years old and retired. She lived at 830 Audobon Way in Lincolnshire but spent about five months out of the year in Florida. In November 2006, when she was in Florida, she received two unusual phone calls: one from a woman claiming to be from AT&T, her telephone service provider in Illinois, and one from a woman claiming to be from the United States Treasury Department. In response to the first call, Stein told the woman that she did not understand why she was calling. In response to the second call, Stein provided her driver’s license number and confirmed that her daughter’s name was Cindy Miller and that she was getting social security checks for a specific amount. On November 15, 2006, she received a call from a woman claiming to be from American Airlines. Stein was scheduled to fly to Illinois on November 19. Following the phone call, Stein called the airlines three times. The first time, her reservation was fine; the second time, she learned that it had been changed; and the third time, she learned that her reservation had been cancelled. Stein had never changed or cancelled her flight.

After finding out that someone had cancelled her flight, Stein asked her daughter to check on her checking and savings accounts with J.E Morgan Chase (Chase), which were also in her daughter’s name. Stein learned that money was missing, so she closed the accounts when she returned to Illinois. Stein never had an account with Fidelity Investments. She did not authorize three transfers of $15,000 from her Chase accounts to an account with Fidelity. Stein did not use the Internet for online banking, and she had never been to Fayetteville, North Carolina. She was not the person in photographs taken by ATM surveillance cameras in Fayetteville, and the signature on a Chili’s receipt was not hers. She also never requested any Green Dot debit or credit cards, but she received two in the mail at her Lincoln-shire address, one in her name and the other with the name Belinda French. Stein did not know anyone named Belinda French. Stein agreed that her Chase account was eventually credited back with the amount of the missing money.

Weidman provided the following testimony. She was 81 years old and retired. From October to December 2006, she was living in an apartment in a retirement community at 830 Audobon in Lincoln-shire. On November 13, 2006, she received an unusual phone call from a woman saying she was from the “office of the bureau of highway license.” The woman called a second time in a matter of minutes. In response to the conversation, Weidman said that she was going to call the Secretary of State’s office to make sure that her driver’s license was valid. Also, Weidman normally received mail on a daily basis, but she did not receive any mail on November 15 or 16 despite the fact that she had not put a hold on her mail.

On December 12, 2006, Weidman received a Green Dot debit card in the mail with her name on it. She had never requested the card, so she called and cancelled it. The same day, she received a call from Glen Tierney of Fidelity Investments. Weidman had a mutual fund account with Fidelity. In October and November 2006, she had a balance of about $70,000. She did not open any new accounts through Fidelity, ask Fidelity to change her e-mail or mailing address, or give anyone permission to access her account. Weidman also did not do any online banking. Weidman was able to withdraw all of the money in her Fidelity account and did not suffer any financial loss.

Glen Tierney provided the following testimony. He investigated financial crimes committed by or against accounts for Fidelity Investments.

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People v. Elcock, 919 N.E.2d 984, 396 Ill. App. 3d 524, 336 Ill. Dec. 59, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 1165 (Ill. Ct. App. 2009).

919 N.E.2d 984 (People v. Elcock) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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