Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael J. DePalma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announced that defendants Nathaniel Troy Maye, a/k/a Troy May, 44, and Tiwanna Tenise Thomason, 40, both of Ft. Lauderdale, were sentenced today before U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch. Maye was sentenced to 66 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. Thomason was sentenced to 5 years’ probation.
Both defendants previously pled guilty to one count of possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1029(a)(3) and 2, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1028A(a)(1) and 2.
According to court documents, on January 5, 2013, a cooperating source (CS) met with Thomason and Maye. During the meeting, Maye told the CS that he had a large number of stolen identities on a flash drive, and discussed using the stolen identities to file fraudulent tax returns and get refunds from those returns. On January 7, 2013, Maye gave the CS a flash drive containing 50 names, dates of birth, and accompanying social security numbers.
On January 8, 2013, the IRS executed a search warrant at Thomason’s apartment. During the search, the IRS recovered numerous electronic storage devices, including computers and flash drives. On two of the flash drives, the IRS found the personal identifying information of thousands of individuals, most of whom were from outside the state of Florida. The personal identifying information included the names, dates of birth, addresses, and social security numbers of numerous individuals.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Strider Dickson.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
