Because of old VHS cassette from video store: woman faces imprisonment after 20 years

A woman faced imprisonment after failing to return a VHS tape from a video store for over 20 years.

Digitization and the Internet have ensured that video stores are now as good as extinct.

Choosing and viewing films and series yourself is now much faster and easier thanks to Netflix and Co. *.

If you still have old loaned DVDs or even VHS cassettes from a video store on the shelf, that should be statute-barred by now, right?

Well, not everywhere - because a woman from Texas in the USA was facing almost jail time for it.

VHS tapes borrowed over 20 years ago and not returned

As

USA Today

reports, a VHS tape in the woman's name was loaned out in 1999 from a now-closed video store in Oklahoma

and never returned

. It was a video from the series "Sabrina - Totally Verhext!" However, the accused alleges that she has never seen a single episode of the series, let alone rented this VHS cassette. But apparently she was charged with embezzling loaned items as early as 2000. However, according to the report, she only found out about the charges last year after she got married, moved to Texas, and tried to change her name.

The now 52-year-old suspects that the real perpetrator is an ex-boyfriend whose daughters were very young at the time.

She was lucky though, as the charges have now been dropped.

The affected video library has been closed for over a decade.

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Other defendants actually went to jail

An arrest warrant for crimes like this is usually only brought to the attention of the US if the accused is stopped by the police, for example because of speeding.

Direct prosecution is not customary in such cases.

In a way, this proves that the woman is a law abiding citizen as she has had no trouble with the police over the years.

According to

USA Today

, there have actually been cases in the past that have ended with prison sentences - only for a VHS tape or DVD that has not been returned.

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