(Photo by Ethan Hoover on Unsplash)
April 16, 2021 By Allie Griffin
A Jackson Heights man was sentenced to more than three years in prison after pleading guilty to an identity theft scam where he stole thousands of dollars from his unsuspecting victim, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday.
Asm Sharfuddin, 22, pleaded guilty in Queens court last month to assuming the identity of a man and withdrawing $11,000 from the victim’s bank accounts. He also pleaded guilty to stealing mail from an Astoria apartment building.
The identity theft scheme took place between April and May last year, where he obtained the identity of an unnamed man and made three withdrawals totaling $11,000 between April and May 2020, according to the charges.
The victim was out of the country at the time and only became aware of the theft when he returned.
Months later, on Sept. 5, Sharfuddin went to an Astoria apartment building on 41st Street and stole mail, according to the charges.
He broke into the mail boxes by prying them open with a crowbar, before taking the contents. The theft took place immediately after a mail carrier filled the mailboxes, the charges state.
Sharfuddin pleaded guilty to identity theft in the second degree and burglary in the second degree for the mail heist.
He was sentenced to a total of three years and six months in prison, followed by two years and six months post-release supervision
“This defendant stole mail and schemed to line his own pockets by using someone else’s identity, but he didn’t get away with it,” Katz said in a statement. “He pleaded guilty in Court and has now been sentenced.”
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