Indictment Charges Scheme to Defraud IRS with Stolen Identities
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Ronnie E. Mejia, 27, Jeffrey Carvajal, 25, and Cerrone Hall, 29, all residents of New York City, were arrested today on an Indictment filed in Syracuse alleging they conspired to use stolen identities to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through the filing of false federal income tax returns, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian.
The indictment alleges the three men and others conspired to use personal identification information stolen from residents of Puerto Rico to file fraudulent income tax returns in order to steal refund checks mailed to locations in the Syracuse area.
If convicted, all three men face up to twenty years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.00 for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. Defendants Ronnie E. Mejia and Cerrone Hall also face mandatory consecutive sentences of two years on each of ten aggravated identity theft counts. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
All three defendants were arraigned today in federal court in New York City. They are scheduled to appear in Syracuse before United States Magistrate Judge Andrew T. Baxter on Oct. 31, 2016.
The charges in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
This case is being investigated by Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations and the United States Postal Inspection Service, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard R. Southwick.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
