Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Ric L. Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, announce that Kawana Brown, 36, of West Palm Beach, pled guilty for her participation in a wide-ranging identity theft scheme.
Specifically, Brown pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 1349 (Count 1), three counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 1343 (Counts 2, 8, and 13), and two counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 1028A (Counts 25 and 38).
Sentencing is scheduled for May 30, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra. At sentencing, the defendant faces a maximum of twenty years in prison for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud, and a mandatory term of two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft charge, to run consecutively to any other sentence.
The scheme involved, in part, stealing the identities of patients at a medical facility in central Florida. Those identities were then used to file fraudulent federal income tax returns in the patients’ names seeking fraudulent refunds, and obtaining fraudulent credit cards which were then used to make fraudulent purchases.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Carlton.
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
