Tampa, Florida - Senior U.S. District Judge James S. Moody, Jr. has sentenced three individuals for their roles in a conspiracy to commit stolen identity refund fraud in the Manatee County area between 2012 and 2013. Among those sentenced were Marcus Lowe (32, Tampa) to three years and six months’ imprisonment, Tedrick Randall (44, Bradenton) to three years and one month in federal prison, and Rachel Kerley (36, Bradenton) to a term of 6 months’ imprisonment. As part of each defendant’s sentence, the Court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $15,457, representing the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct. Randall and Kerley pleaded guilty in April 2015, and Lowe was found guilty on May 1, 2015, after a jury trial.
According to court documents, Lowe worked for the Manatee County Parole Services Division at the Manatee County Jail and, as such, had access to the jail booking sheets. These booking sheets contained personal identification information relating to the inmates, including their names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers. Lowe provided that information to Randall and Kerley, who then used the data to file false and fraudulent income tax returns seeking tax refunds in the names of those inmates. The conspirators filed income tax returns seeking a total of approximately $72,254 in tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, with assistance from the Manatee County Sherriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
