New York: A teenager of Indian origin was sentenced to five years probation and 350 hours of community service after he pleaded guilty to charges of stealing personal identification information on the Internet.

Shiva Sharma, 19, had been charged with using the Internet to steal personal identification details and credit card information of more than 100 people.

Sharma, who lives with his parents in Richmond Hill in New York, admitted to using a computer there for a scheme in which stolen identities were used to buy more than $ 30,000 worth of expensive electronic equipment.

"You're a young fellow, you have your whole life in front of you," Justice Dorothy Chin-Brandt told Sharma yesterday (Dec 11, 2003) in State Supreme Court. "It's up to you what you want to do with it."

As part of his plea agreement with prosecutors, Chin-Brandt said Sharma must perform community service not related to computer or office work.

PTI