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Can you go to prison for buying stolen PII
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek, with over 40 years of combined experience handling federal criminal defense cases. You might recognize our work from the Netflix series about Anna Delvey – where Todd represented the fake heiress who conned New York’s elite – or from the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case that made national headlines. We’ve built our reputation on cases other firms said were unwinnable.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably worried about criminal charges related to buying or possessing stolen personally identifiable information. Maybe you bought data from someone online, maybe you’re part of an investigation, maybe federal agents already contacted you. This article explains what the law says, what penalties you’re actually facing in 2025, and why these cases are more serious than most people realize.
Yes – You Can Go to Federal Prison for Buying Stolen PII
The short answer is yes. Buying stolen personally identifiable information is a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1028, and prosecutors don’t need to prove you used the information to charge you. Just possessing it with intent to commit fraud – that’s enough. The statute covers anyone who “knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity.”
What counts as PII? Names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, bank account information, credit card numbers – anything that identifies a specific person. You don’t need all of it. Federal prosecutors charge cases where defendants only had partial information, like names and addresses paired with birthdates.
The penalties aren’t theoretical. Standard violations carry up to 15 years in federal prison if the offense involves production or transfer of identification documents, more than five documents, or obtaining an aggregate value of $1,000 or more during a one-year period. That threshold is lower than most people think – buy information on six people, you’ve crossed the line into 15-year territory.
2025 Penalties Are Steeper Than You Think
Federal identity theft law has three penalty tiers, and they stack. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, here’s what you’re facing:
Standard violations – up to 15 years. That’s your baseline for buying stolen PII without other aggravating factors. Judges use the federal sentencing guidelines to calculate your actual sentence, weighing factors like dollar loss, number of victims, and criminal history. First-time defendants with limited victim counts sometimes get sentences in the 2-5 year range, but there’s no guarantee.
Enhanced penalties – up to 20 years if the offense involves drug trafficking, violent crime, or you have a prior identity theft conviction. Federal prosecutors love stacking charges. Buy stolen PII to facilitate drug sales? You’re looking at 20 years maximum on the identity theft count alone, plus whatever the drug charges carry.
Terrorism-related offenses – up to 30 years if the identity theft connects to aiding or committing domestic or international terrorism. These cases are rare but devastating when charged.
Then there’s aggravated identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A – a mandatory minimum two years that runs consecutive to whatever sentence you get for the underlying crime. That means if you used someone’s stolen information during commission of a felony, you’re getting at least two years added on top of everything else, and judges have no discretion to reduce it.
How the Feds Actually Prosecute These Cases
Federal prosecutors don’t chase every person who buys stolen data online. They can’t – there aren’t enough resources. The Department of Justice focuses on large-scale operations, cases involving substantial dollar amounts, or schemes with multiple victims.
Look at the Northern District of New York case from 2025. Thirteen defendants pleaded guilty in a conspiracy to defraud financial institutions by obtaining PII and using lower-level “workers” to impersonate victims for fraudulent banking transactions. The investigation uncovered over $2 million in fraudulent transactions, with defendants forfeiting hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds, luxury apparel, jewelry. The alleged ringleader faces trial in June 2025, while cooperators who pleaded early are looking at reduced sentences.
That’s the pattern federal prosecutors follow – they build conspiracy cases, flip lower-level participants, and save the harshest penalties for organizers and repeat offenders. If you’re part of a group buying and selling stolen data, even in a small role, you’re vulnerable to conspiracy charges that carry the same penalties as if you ran the whole operation.
Federal investigative agencies like the FBI, Secret Service, and Postal Inspection Service work these cases for months or years before making arrests. By the time agents contact you, they’ve already reviewed your communications, financial records, online activity. They know what you bought, when you bought it, what you did with it. Walking into an interrogation without a lawyer is how most defendants make their cases worse – they think explaining their side will help, but anything you say gets used against you at sentencing even if you later take a plea deal.
What Matters at Sentencing
Federal judges calculate sentences using the presentence investigation report – a detailed document probation officers prepare that includes offense level, criminal history category, loss amounts, victim impact, and aggravating or mitigating factors. Your lawyer’s job is fighting the numbers in that report, because every point on the guidelines translates to months or years in prison.
Dollar loss drives everything. Courts calculate “intended loss” – not just actual loss – which means if you bought information on 100 people but only defrauded 10, you’re still getting sentenced based on the potential harm to all 100. Prosecutors estimate losses generously, your lawyer fights to minimize them, and the judge makes final determinations that can swing your sentence by years.
Number of victims matters separately from dollar loss. More victims means higher offense levels under the guidelines, even if individual losses were small. Sophisticated means – using encryption, laundering money through cryptocurrency, hacking to obtain the data – all add points to your sentence calculation.
Acceptance of responsibility is the most valuable reduction available. If you plead guilty, admit what you did, don’t minimize your conduct, you typically get a three-level reduction that can knock years off your sentence. But you lose this if you go to trial and get convicted, which is why most federal defendants plead guilty. Trial tax is real – defendants who reject plea offers and lose at trial routinely get sentences double or triple what they would have received for pleading.
Cooperation with prosecutors – providing substantial assistance in investigating or prosecuting others – is the only way to get below mandatory minimums or guidelines ranges in serious cases. The government files a 5K1.1 motion asking the judge to depart downward based on your cooperation. Without that motion, judges can’t go below statutory minimums. Federal prosecutors are selective about who they’ll work with, and cooperation often means testifying against co-defendants, wearing a wire, or providing detailed information about criminal networks. It’s not risk-free – cooperators face retaliation, and there’s no guarantee prosecutors will recommend the sentence reduction you’re hoping for.
What You Should Do If You’re Under Investigation
Don’t talk to federal agents without a lawyer present. Nothing good comes from these conversations. Agents are trained interrogators – they’ll tell you cooperation helps your case, that they just want to hear your side, that things will be easier if you’re honest now. They’re not lying about wanting information, but they’re not your friends, and the Fifth Amendment exists for a reason.
Contact a federal criminal defense attorney immediately – not next week, not after you “figure things out,” immediately. At Spodek Law Group – we handle federal identity theft cases nationwide, and the earlier we get involved, the more options you have. Sometimes we can negotiate with prosecutors before charges are filed, sometimes we can structure cooperation agreements that minimize your exposure, sometimes we fight the case at trial. But all of that depends on getting ahead of the investigation instead of reacting after you’re indicted.
Preserve evidence but don’t destroy anything. Deleting files, wiping devices, destroying documents – that’s obstruction of justice, a separate federal felony that adds years to your sentence. If you’ve got evidence that hurts your case, your lawyer needs to know about it to plan your defense. Trying to hide it from prosecutors just creates new crimes.
Federal cases are different from state court – there’s no bail system the same way, no local prosecutors who might reduce charges, no judges who’ll give you probation on a serious fraud case because it’s your first offense. Federal sentencing is calculated, methodical, and harsh. The system is designed to pressure defendants into pleading guilty, and 97% of federal cases end in plea agreements for exactly that reason. Your lawyer’s value isn’t just trial skills – it’s knowing how to negotiate in an environment where the government holds most of the leverage.
We’ve represented clients in cases involving everything from small-scale identity theft to multi-million dollar fraud conspiracies. Some were organizational leaders, some were low-level participants who made bad decisions. What separates good outcomes from disasters is having experienced counsel who understands federal procedure, knows the prosecutors and judges in your district, and can present your case in the most favorable light possible.
Buying stolen PII isn’t a minor offense federal prosecutors ignore – it’s serious criminal conduct with mandatory prison time in many cases. If you’re under investigation or already facing charges, the decisions you make in the next few days and weeks will determine whether you spend years in federal prison or find a way to minimize the damage. At Spodek Law Group, we’re available 24/7 to discuss your case and explain your options. This is what we do, and we’ve been doing it for over 40 years.