Alabama Man Sentenced for Stolen Identity Refund Fraud | WPN World People News

A Montgomery County, Alabama, resident was sentenced to prison Thursday for his involvement in a stolen identity tax refund fraud (SIRF) scheme, Acting Assistant Attorney Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney George L. Beck Jr. of the Middle District of Alabama announced on October 22.

Jerome Marcel Newton was sentenced to serve 48 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $147,102 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Newton previously pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to the superseding indictment and the plea agreement, Newton obtained the personal identifying information of others in various ways, including by using other individuals to collect identities or recruit people to provide their identities. Although Newton resided in Alabama, a number of the identities belonged to people living in Pittsburgh. Newton also obtained the identity information of prison inmates. Newton used the identities he obtained to file fraudulent tax returns, directing the refunds claimed on those returns into bank accounts or onto prepaid debit cards. Some of the prepaid debit cards were then mailed to addresses within the Middle District of Alabama.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice