Anthony Horton, 37, of Philadelphia; Aaron Horton, Jr., 39, formerly of Philadelphia; Thomas Gillis, 39, of Philadelphia; Faith Charlton, 34, of Philadelphia; Lynda Slaughter, 36, of Sharon Hill; and Marie “Kellie" Slaughter, 32, of Philadelphia, were all charged today with conspiracy against the United States, announced United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen. According to the Indictment,[1] the co-conspirators engaged in a long-running scheme to defraud the federal government. Their schemes included creating false and fictitious businesses in order to use stolen identity information to collect unemployment benefits; and filing false tax returns to get refunds not due to the co-conspirators. Substantive mail fraud, false returns, aggravated identity theft, and false statement charges are also included in the indictment.
If convicted, all defendants face substantial prison terms, as well as full restitution to the government.
The case was investigated by the United States Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General; the United States Postal Inspection Service; the Social Security Administration - Office of Inspector General; the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations Division; and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor; and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda R. Reinitz.
[1] An Indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
