ID Thief Cummings Gets 14 Years In PrisonID Thief Cummings Gets 14 Years In Prison

Philip Cummings, the man who federal prosecutors say played a major role in the largest case of identity-theft in U.S. history, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Tuesday. Cummings was sentenced in Manhattan before U.S. District Judge George Daniels.

Cummings was employed as a help-desk worker for online credit-information provider Teledata Communications Inc. in 1999 and 2000. During that time, investigators said, Cummings sold the passwords and codes needed to access consumer credit reports. Thousands of credit reports were illegally accessed, and the government said the financial loss to victims ranged from $50 million to $100 million.

Cummings pleaded guilty in September to the scheme to sell the identities of 30,000 individuals. He pleaded to one count each of conspiracy, wire fraud, and fraud in connection with identification documents. He faced a sentence of up to 50 years in prison.