Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

My son who is now 20 let a "friend" of his convince him that if he obtained cell phones in his name he could sell them door to door. When I found out about this I immediately let my son know this was not an option and that he needed to cancel the phones. I was present during the conversations with this supposed friend who paid for the phones as he was getting my son into the "business", when he agreed to return the phones. This was done with 3 major cell phone companies. My son received no more correspondence from any of these companies and assumed all was taken care of. Now, 8 months later, doing a credit check because he just inlisted in the military we find that all three companies have over 9k in collection debt against my son. Subsequent calls to these companies show that someone claiming to be my son changed all the billing information to an address my son has no knowledge of or has ever resided at. Can my son file a police report for identity theft or any other criminal charges so that we can get this matter resolved 1 so my son can clear his name and continue into his future into the military and 2 make this person to be held responsible for these large debts?

Desperate for information! Thak you.


Asked on 8/04/11, 1:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

I suspect the police will tell him this is a civil matter, but he can try to file charges with them anyway. IF criminal charges are filed, and IF the friend ultimately ends up with a restitution order, your son can hope to someday collect some of that. He can sue the friend for damages, and try to collect IF he can win get a judgment in the case. He can try to negotiate with the phone companies to waive or reduce the bill[s], using proof of all the above attempts and facts. There is no magic wand to wave and make it all disappear. He has a serious problem, with no easy solution.

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Answered on 8/04/11, 3:19 pm


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