PEABODY — Confronted by a Peabody police detective with evidence that he'd once again ripped off his elderly stepfather, Steven Fishman, 22, tried to explain himself.
"It wasn't drugs or any of that," Fishman told Detective Robert Church. "It's kind of, I kind of get a thrill out of doing it."
Fishman pleaded guilty yesterday to six counts of identity fraud and one count of felony larceny from a person over 60 and was sentenced to two to four years in state prison by Salem Superior Court Judge Timothy Feeley.
That's less than half the time sought by prosecutor Marcia Slingerland, who explained to Feeley that it wasn't the first time Fishman had stolen from the 77-year-old man.
In fact, Fishman was on probation at the time for another series of thefts that emptied his stepfather's bank account — and cost him his home, when he could no longer make the mortgage.
Despite the crimes, which forced the elderly man to move to an apartment on Keyes Drive, he took Fishman back in to live with him after Fishman was let out of jail in 2008.
Fishman repaid his stepfather by again bleeding the elderly man's bank account dry, stealing nearly $10,000 with a series of electronic transactions that were discovered only after the victim got an overdraft notice from his bank.
During the course of his investigation, Church discovered that Fishman had opened four credit cards and a phone account, which he was paying for by making electronic transfers from his stepfather's account, using stolen information.
His stepfather wasn't the only victim.
Fishman had stolen the identity of his brother, who is mentally retarded and lives in a group home in upstate New York, to open another credit card account.
And when his stepfather at last kicked him out of his apartment, Fishman moved in with an older man in Lynn — and proceeded to open another credit card, this time in the name of that man. Police found that credit card when they arrested him on a warrant.
Slingerland read a letter from Fishman's stepfather, in which the man described his struggle to get by as a result of the thefts — but also his love for the young man he raised alone after his former wife died, when Fishman was 9.
"I have raised and supported him his entire life," wrote the elderly man. "Steven isn't a bad person, but when he has too much time on his hands and money in his pocket, he gets into trouble."
"I love my stepson, but he needs to straighten himself out," the man wrote. "He needs supervision and someone to teach him how to take responsibility for himself."
The man, who said he's lost track of how much money Fishman had stolen from him, said he's still getting calls and letters from collection agencies. Each time he wants to withdraw money from the bank, he has to either walk or get a ride to the bank and have the bank unfreeze his account and then freeze it again after the transaction.
Slingerland said Fishman's crimes date to his teenage years, and all involve forgery and larceny.
Defense lawyer Rebecca Whitehill argued for a shorter term, in a county house of correction rather than state prison.
She acknowledged the stepfather's letter as "heart-wrenching" but pointed out that the victim did not want to see Fishman imprisoned.
"He realizes what an awful impact he's had not only on society but on a person who loves him," Whitehill said, speaking on Fishman's behalf. Fishman himself declined when the judge offered him a chance to speak.
Whitehill said that while her client told police that he stole for the thrill of it, he's also been using drugs since the 10th grade.
The judge told Fishman he considered the victim's views in his sentence and said he is "very fortunate to have had such a person in your life. In many regards this makes your conduct more egregious."
When he's released from prison, Fishman will be on probation for three years, with conditions that include paying $9,900 in restitution to his stepfather and $300 to the Lynn man. He must also complete a mental health and substance abuse evaluation. He was also ordered not to have any job in which he handles money.
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