MIAMI (AP) - A South Florida man has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison in an identity theft and tax fraud case involving names stolen from a community college.
The sentence was imposed on 29-year-old Charlton Escarmant of Miami, who was convicted of four fraud and ID theft charges in March. Co-defendant Arthy Icart pleaded guilty and was sentenced in April to more than five years behind bars.
Trial testimony showed that the pair filed false tax returns using names stolen from Tallahassee Community College's financial aid office. Authorities found more than 3,200 names from the college on Escarmant's computer.
About 400 fraudulent tax returns were filed seeking $3.3 million in refunds from the Internal Revenue Service. They had the refunds loaded onto prepaid tax debit cards.
