Penalties for Filing False Police Reports in Florida
- Those convicted of filing a false police report in Florida may have to pay a $1,000 fine.money image by Horticulture from Fotolia.com
Filing a false police report is prohibited in Florida by statute. According to Florida Statute 817.49, anyone who knowingly misleads the authorities, or who causes someone else to mislead the police about the commission of a crime is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree. The statute covers those who not only lie to the police, but those who report crimes that were not actually committed as well as misinformation about crimes that were. - In Florida, the penalty for calling the police and reporting a nonexistent crime is a year in prison.police car up close image by Aaron Kohr from Fotolia.com
A person who has been convicted of filing a false police report faces punishment under the statutes for a misdemeanor in the first degree. This would include imprisonment up to and including, but not beyond, a full year. This is described in Florida Statute 775.082. - According to Florida Statute 775.082(d), in addition to any prison time to which the defendant has been sentenced, he may also be ordered to pay a fine that will not exceed $1,000.00.
- Florida Statute 775.082 (2) further orders the defendant to pay court costs. The court costs imposed by this statute is $20 which is payable to the clerk of courts. The purpose of the court costs, under this statute, is to build a crime prevention fund throughout the state using monies collected through county courts using this system.
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