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 Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, announce that Kawana Brown, 35, of West Palm Beach, Elton Baker, 29, and Eltonya Wiley, 40, both of Center Hill, were sentenced before Judge Kenneth A. Marra for their participation in a wide-ranging identity theft scheme. Brown was sentenced to 102 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Baker was sentenced to 65 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Wiley was sentenced to 42 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Brown, Baker and Wiley were also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $122,075.21.
Each of the defendants previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, and three counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. Brown also pled guilty to two counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A, and Baker and Wiley each pled guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft.
Ringleader and co-conspirator Jennifer Robinson, 36, of West Palm Beach, was sentenced on May 30, 2014, to 121 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. A restitution hearing is scheduled for July 25, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra in West Palm Beach. Robinson previously pled guilty to all counts in a superseding indictment, which included one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, twelve counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, eleven counts of stealing government monies, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641, twelve counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A, and one count of unauthorized access device fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(2).
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.
Co-defendants Antoinette Simmons, 40, of Ocoee, and Josh Brown, 25, of Riverdale, Georgia, were sentenced to probation for their roles in the thefts.
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
