MEMPHIS, Tenn. – In the past six months, authorities said that a Shelby County woman defrauded countless victims across 10 states, stealing $380,000.
“Frankly, this is the new normal,” said Eva Velasquez, the president and CEO of the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center.
Authorities said that 39-year-old Toni Gibson was arrested on a similar ‘scheme’ in 2020. Sheriff’s deputies discovered more than 100 fake driver’s licenses in her home that year, according to the department.
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However, Gibson served a suspended 5-year sentence for that crime, meaning she stayed out of jail as long as she stayed out of trouble.
She now faces similar allegations less than 3 years later.
“We’ve not kept up with the punishments for these crimes,” Velasquez said. “As a society and in the criminal justice system, we don’t take these offenses as seriously as we do violent crimes.”
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