ERIE, Pa. - An inmate at the McKean Federal Correctional Institution in Bradford, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and aggravated identify theft,, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.
James Lamont Johnson, 51, pleaded guilty to two counts before United States District Judge David S. Cercone.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Johnson engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the United States by submitting false claims for income tax refunds using individuals’ identification information which was unlawfully obtained. Johnson stole the identities of 56 individuals who were clients of the Community of Caring, a non-profit social service agency in Erie, where he had access to the clients’ personal identification information. Johnson utilized TurboTax and filed approximately 71 tax returns, seeking refunds from the IRS of more than $100,000.00. Johnson and his co-conspirator inputted the stolen identity information and used wage information from W-2 forms taken from actual employees of local businesses to perpetrate the fraudulent tax refund scheme. The scheme to defraud successfully obtained more than $60,000.00 in tax refunds. The refunds came in the form of prepaid debit cards and U.S. Treasury checks, which were mailed to addresses where Johnson could access the mail and retrieve the refunds.
Judge Cercone scheduled sentencing for Feb. 26, 2018 at 12:45 p.m. The law provides for a total sentence of 12 years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant. A mandatory minimum sentence of two years must be imposed for the conviction of aggravated identity theft.
Assistant United States Attorney Marshall J. Piccinini is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Johnson.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
