Judge Gives Man 200-Year Prison Term For Bilking Tiger Woods

A man who used Tiger Woods' identity to steal $17,000 worth of goods was sentenced to 200 years to life in a Sacramento, CA, prison. Anthony Lemar Taylor was convicted of falsely obtaining a driver's license by using the name Eldrick T. Woods, Woods' Social Security number and his birth date. Although Taylor looks nothing like the world's most famous golfer, the 30-year-old used false ID and credit cards to buy a 70-inch TV, a stereo system and a used luxury car between August of 1998 and 1999.

Judge Michael Vigra gave Taylor the maximum sentence under California's three strikes law.

Taylor, 30, wiped away a tear from his left eye and quietly shook his head as the sentence was handed down.

"This was a high-tech lynching," argued Taylor's court-appointed lawyer James Greiner, adding that criminals who have raped, maimed and killed have received less punishment than his client. Greiner asked the judge to reduce the sentence to 19 years because Taylor's crimes had been mostly theft-related.

In retort, Deputy District Assistant Attorney Russ Detrick stated that Taylor, who has been convicted of 20 misdemeanors and felonies, was the kind of criminal for which the "three strikes" law was intended. "His [Taylor's] record goes back 17 years," the prosecutor said. "The door should be slammed shut."