Tampa, Florida - U.S. District Judge Charlene Honeywell has sentenced Damon Bellamy (40, Riverview) and Quijuania Williams (40, Riverview) to seven years and eight months in federal prison and five years and three months in federal prison, respectively, for theft of government funds. The court will schedule a restitution hearing to determine the amount of restitution they owe to the Internal Revenue Service.
According to court documents, Bellamy and Williams engaged in a conspiracy to file false and fraudulent income tax returns using the personal identification information of unknowing third parties. Bellamy and Williams directed the deposit of the refunds that they had obtained in this manner onto debit cards in their own names and the names of others, including many family members and friends. This conspiracy began before 2010 and continued until June 2013. The court determined that as a result of this conspiracy, Bellamy and Williams caused an actual loss to the Internal Revenue Service of $1,579,567 and that their collective efforts had led to an attempt to collect over $6.3 million in fraudulent refunds.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the Hillsborough County Sherriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
