Maryland Identity Theft Statute Held Not To Apply To Fictitious Identities

Maryland's highest court recently published a surprising ruling: to be prosecuted under the Maryland identity theft statute (Criminal Law Article 8-301), one must have stolen the identity of an actual person. The statute does not apply, the court reasoned, in cases where an individual commits identity theft using a fictitious identity. The majority of the case centers on an analysis of the term "another" in the statute. After delving into the statute's legislative history, the court determined that "another" must refer to an actual person for the statute to apply.