Tampa, Florida - United States District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich today sentenced Samika Garcia (39), formerly of Riverview, to four years and three months in federal prison on one count of wire fraud and one count aggravated identity theft in connection with income tax fraud. As part of her sentence, she was also ordered to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. Garcia pleaded guilty to these charges on Nov. 15, 2017.
According to court documents, in February and March 2014, Garcia electronically filed false and unauthorized tax returns in other peoples’ names from a laptop computer, claiming fraudulent tax refunds that were then deposited onto debit cards, in an amount totaling over $192,000. In doing so, Garcia unlawfully used those individuals’ personally identifying information, and kept track of this information in detailed ledgers at her residence.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelley Howard-Allen.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
