TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A Tallahassee woman has been sentenced to two years and a day in prison for filing fraudulent tax returns.
Lydia Thomas, 39, was sentenced to prison for theft of public money and aggravated identity theft.
The U.S. Department of Justice said that Thomas entered her guilty plea back in September, telling officials that between 2012 and 2014, she knowingly prepared and electronically filed fraudulent tax returns.
The personal identifying information that Thomas used on the tax returns came from homeless people, inmates, and Thomas’s family members.
They said that she would establish addresses, such as abandoned houses and rental properties, for the refunds to arrive in the form of treasury checks and debit cards.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Corey J. Smith.
