The governor of Delaware recently signed a bill that would strengthen that state’s penalties for certain crimes, like health care fraud, theft and embezzlement.  Gov. John Markell signed the bill, which was introduced as a response to several recent high-profile cases of embezzlement involving small businesses as well as government officials.

Under the new law, persons convicted of embezzlement, theft, health care fraud and new home construction fraud, in which losses have exceeded $50,000, will have to serve a maximum of 8 years in prison.  Under the old laws, these persons would be sentenced to a maximum of 3 years in prison.

If the crimes have resulted in losses that exceed $100,000, then the maximum sentence would be 25 years, and the minimum sentence would be 2 years.  Under the old laws, there was no minimum sentence for a person convicted of such crimes, and the maximum sentence was just 15 years.

These laws are much tougher than the older laws, and they have been passed as a result of widespread public outrage against several government officials who have been found involved in such crimes.  Last year, the former treasurer of Kenton town was sentenced to 8 years for embezzlement of nearly $200,000.

With the passing of this new law, the government of Delaware wants to send out a strict message that such crimes will not be tolerated.  According to lawmakers, these crimes may not be felonies or violent crimes, but they're just as destructive, and have a strong negative impact on society.  Lawmakers believe that it is important to pass such laws, because the effect of crimes like embezzlement and fraud can be serious when these occur in a small community.