DALLAS A Texas woman who confessed to stealing the identities of 78 people while working in restaurants and a retirement community has been sentenced to 38 years in prison.
Furnioes Giddings Parker, 42, of Duncanville, Texas, admitted in a Texas District Court here to stealing tens of thousands of dollars through people's credit cards while working at such restaurants as Braum's, Whataburger and Luby's Cafeteria. She also stole the identities of 14 elderly people while working as a dietitian aide at a retirement community in Dallas.
Parker used the stolen information to get credit cards, cell phones and gift cards.
District Judge Andy Chatham, under a new Texas law enacted last year, could have sentenced her from probation to life in prison. Parker will be eligible for parole after serving 9 1/2 years.
Texas lawmakers last year changed identity theft laws to make it a first-degree felony to fraudulently have or use more than 50 kinds of identifying information, including Social Security numbers, birthdates and bank account information. Before that, it was a "state-jail" felony, which is punishable by 180 days to two years in jail.