Cases with victims 60 or older are charged and sentenced more harshly in both state and federal court. At the state level, prosecutors resist non-incarceration pleas and push for actual ACI time. In federal court, the sentencing guidelines include a vulnerable-victim enhancement under USSG § 3A1.1 that adds real months of prison time. Prosecutors also give elder-fraud cases priority, so cases that might otherwise be declined often go forward. The defense response is to scrutinize the relationship between the accused and the alleged victim - many "elder fraud" cases are actually family disputes about money that was shared, borrowed, or gifted. An experienced Rhode Island identity theft lawyer develops that context early.
