TUCSON, Ariz. - Today, Clariece Burden-Stelly, 33, of Tucson, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James A. Soto to a term of 21 months’ imprisonment and a 36-month term of supervised release following her incarceration, for her role in a tax fraud scheme. As part of her sentence, she was also ordered to pay over $19,000 in restitution to the U.S. Treasury. Burden-Stelly had previously pleaded guilty to false claims and wire fraud.
Under the scheme, Burden-Stelly filed false federal income tax returns for tax years 2012 through 2014. Burden-Stelly caused the filing of false federal tax returns under her name and the names and social security numbers of others to obtain fraudulent federal income tax refunds. Burden-Stelly fraudulently used the IRS Employer Identification Numbers (EIN’s) of her former employers to report false wage and withholding information. The fraudulent tax refunds were disbursed on pre-paid cards or by check.
The investigation in this case was conducted by IRS-Criminal Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Jane L. Westby, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Tucson.
CASE NUMBER: CR-18-00129
RELEASE NUMBER: 2018-153_Burden-Stelly
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
