5 ms·

How does buying pizza with a corporate credit card result in a felony conviction?

metaphorm 10y ago
he didn't elaborate, but I was assuming it was not an authorized transaction. he might have been using stolen credit card numbers.
- theandrewbailey 10y ago
  I have a hard time imagining that an unauthorized charge for pizza alone gets you a felony. That should be grounds for a firing, not a felony.
  - kyledrake 10y ago
    This definitely needs much more elaboration. Felonies are reserved for very serious crimes. It should take much more than an unauthorized pizza purchase.
    - jhayward 10y ago
      > Felonies are reserved for very serious crimes Not true in any real sense. I've seen a State of Texas employee charged with a felony for making a $0.25 personal call from a state telephone back in the early 90's. The unreal magnitude of criminalization of "normal" behavior in the US is beyond anything most people can imagine.
    - dragonwriter 10y ago
      > Felonies are reserved for very serious crimes. This is true only in the tautological sense, in which designation of something as "felony" is held to designate it as a "very serious" crime. Beyond that, no. In fact, this is expressly recognized many places in law, such as California's three-strikes law, where a "strike" is a "violent or serious" felony.
    - joesmo 10y ago
      "Felonies are reserved for very serious crimes." False. It's a real problem that people think this. No wonder our justice system in the US is so fucked up. People don't even know what's happening.
    - whamlastxmas 10y ago
      Adultery is a felony in Michigan, though it's obviously not really enforced.
  - metaphorm 10y ago
    probably a misdemeanor larceny, but because it was credit card fraud done over the internet, that's felony wire fraud which is a much more serious crime. if it was an interstate transaction it might have even been a federal charge.
    - theandrewbailey 10y ago
      > but because it was credit card fraud done over the internet How do you know that's what the author did? (it would nicely explain the situation, though)
      - metaphorm 10y ago
        oh I have no idea, I'm speculating, sorry if my language implied otherwise.
theandrewbailey 10y ago
Yeah, that sounds fishy. Definitely more to it than that. Maybe the card was stolen?
bsder 10y ago
You would be surprised at what can land you with a felony. Most crimes could fall into that category if you are found with drugs on you at time of arrest. The problem is punishment vs rehabilitation. The real issue is that we don't consider the prison time served as sufficient penalty and we continue to dog an offender long beyond what is indicated for safety. Most research shows that non-violent offenders are actually safer than the general public if they manage to stay out of trouble for 5 years past their offense. Those people should get their record cleared at that point.

he didn't elaborate, but I was assuming it was not an authorized transaction. he might have been using stolen credit card numbers.

theandrewbailey 10y ago
I have a hard time imagining that an unauthorized charge for pizza alone gets you a felony. That should be grounds for a firing, not a felony.
- kyledrake 10y ago
  This definitely needs much more elaboration. Felonies are reserved for very serious crimes. It should take much more than an unauthorized pizza purchase.
  - jhayward 10y ago
    > Felonies are reserved for very serious crimes Not true in any real sense. I've seen a State of Texas employee charged with a felony for making a $0.25 personal call from a state telephone back in the early 90's. The unreal magnitude of criminalization of "normal" behavior in the US is beyond anything most people can imagine.
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    > Felonies are reserved for very serious crimes. This is true only in the tautological sense, in which designation of something as "felony" is held to designate it as a "very serious" crime. Beyond that, no. In fact, this is expressly recognized many places in law, such as California's three-strikes law, where a "strike" is a "violent or serious" felony.
  - joesmo 10y ago
    "Felonies are reserved for very serious crimes." False. It's a real problem that people think this. No wonder our justice system in the US is so fucked up. People don't even know what's happening.
  - whamlastxmas 10y ago
    Adultery is a felony in Michigan, though it's obviously not really enforced.
- metaphorm 10y ago
  probably a misdemeanor larceny, but because it was credit card fraud done over the internet, that's felony wire fraud which is a much more serious crime. if it was an interstate transaction it might have even been a federal charge.
  - theandrewbailey 10y ago
    > but because it was credit card fraud done over the internet How do you know that's what the author did? (it would nicely explain the situation, though)
    - metaphorm 10y ago
      oh I have no idea, I'm speculating, sorry if my language implied otherwise.

theandrewbailey 10y ago

Yeah, that sounds fishy. Definitely more to it than that. Maybe the card was stolen?

bsder 10y ago

You would be surprised at what can land you with a felony. Most crimes could fall into that category if you are found with drugs on you at time of arrest. The problem is punishment vs rehabilitation. The real issue is that we don't consider the prison time served as sufficient penalty and we continue to dog an offender long beyond what is indicated for safety. Most research shows that non-violent offenders are actually safer than the general public if they manage to stay out of trouble for 5 years past their offense. Those people should get their record cleared at that point.