Kevin Amerman reports:
A Philadelphia man who authorities say stole the identities of eight Lehigh Valley residents to rack up $88,000 of bills in their names, partly to buy penis enlargements for him and a friend and breast implants for two women, could serve nearly two decades behind bars.
Lehigh County Judge Maria L. Dantos sentenced Jose Amid Juarbe to 4½ to 18 years in state prison Tuesday. She also ordered him to make minimum monthly payments of $300 a month once he’s released to repay all the stolen money.
Juarbe, 40, told the judge many others benefited from the products that were purchased with the stolen money and he needed the penis enlargement surgery to properly function.
“People think that because I’m gay, I don’t have to have my parts working,” he told the judge.
[…]
Juarbe pleaded guilty in August to 42 counts including identity theft, writing bad checks, forgery and theft by deception.
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