Jacksonville, Florida - United States Senior District Judge Henry Lee Adams, Jr. has sentenced Chad Heins (41, Nekoosa, Wisconsin) to one year and one day in federal prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States. He was also ordered to pay $287,533.53 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. Heins pleaded guilty on March 23, 2015.
According to court documents, Heins spent 13 years and 8 months in prison after being arrested, tried, and convicted of first-degree murder. After his release, he communicated with at least one Florida inmate and reached an agreement to split tax refund proceeds that had been obtained from the filing of fraudulent tax returns. Heins opened bank accounts in his name and fraudulently obtained income tax refunds in the total amount of at least $1,258,178. Of that amount, at least $287,533 was actually deposited into bank accounts that Heins had opened.
The case was investigated by The Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the Florida Department of Corrections. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelly S. Karase.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
